I found the idea for sidewalk chalk paint on quite a few blogs I follow. They all had the same basic recipe: 1/4 c. cornstarch, 1/4 c. water, 6-8 drops food coloring.
We decided to just try two colors for starters...Miss M picked pink, I picked blue for JB...so stereotypical aren't I?
Then the painting began! The kids were happy to paint, although real brushes would have worked much better than the sponges. The sidewalk ate them up...oh well, thankfully they were 20 for $1 at Michael's at the beginning of the summer.
When it dried, it looked just like sidewalk chalk, just lots of it! Nice and bright too! The upside of this activity is it's cheap, it's fun, and it lets your child show off his/her creativity! The downside is that you are using food coloring...so when the two year old takes the brush and hurls it at his sister, the blue "paint" is up and down her arm to stay. The other downside I'm slightly concerned about is staining the sidewalk. If you were on blacktop, it might not be as noticeable. We, however, were on our sidewalk, you know, the one the association owns. Oops! I'm sure after a few rains it will come off...what's that, we're headed into a heat wave with no chance of rain for over a week!?!? Oh well, I'll expect a letter from the association, I'll pay the fine and I'll send them a bottle of sprinkles to go with it :)
UPDATE: I gave the kids a bath and all the food coloring came off...hopefully the sidewalk will be as forgiving as their skin :) Maybe a little boiling water tomorrow will help!?!?
Love this idea Janet!! My kids have been asking me to make play dough for them and I may just have to surprise them with this as well! This will keep my girl busy for hours :)
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