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Sidewalk Paint

Sweet Pea is 5 years old.

From: I have seen sidewalk paint recipes everywhere:  Mom’s Crafty Space, Disney’s Family Fun magazine, river-girlpink and green mama, and Meet the Dubiens.

Material:

  • 1.25 cups Cornstarch (or even 1.5 cups.  Most of the above recipes call for a 1:1 water and corn starch ratio, but we preferred  river-girl’s suggestion to create slightly thicker paint.  However, if it is too thick, it won’t be “paintable”, so you’ll just have to adjust it to your liking.)
  • 1  cup Water.
  • Whisk or spoon.
  • Liquid water colors or food coloring.
  • Liquid dish soap.
  • Medium mixing bowl.
  • Several small bowls for holding the paint.
  • Paintbrush(es).

Procedure:

  • Mix the cornstarch into the water in a medium bowl.  Add more cornstarch or water as needed to create a slightly thick paint.  Add a few drops of liquid dish soap and stir gently.
  • Divide the cornstarch slurry into several smaller bowls.
  • Add a few drops of liquid water colors to each of the smaller bowls and stir until all of the color is evenly distributed.  Repeat with other colors in the remaining small bowls.
  • Take all of the bowls of paint outside and set them on the driveway or sidewalk.

  • Let your tot paint.
  •  (And paint and paint and paint.)
  • Make more paint when your tot runs out.  lol.

Observations:   This activity was a huge success.  Sweet Pea requests it all the time and I have set this up at least 3 times in the last month.

This is really fun stuff!

There is something really satisfying about this paint.  It is just thick enough and the colors are bright so it shows up well against the concrete.  It also dries quickly and has an interesting 3-D feel.

Sweet Pea likes painting, with it, but also flinging it off the end of her paintbrush to create “fireworks”.

I highly recommend this activity for all kids.  It is excellent!

Notes from the Trenches:  I can not remember where I saw the suggestion to add a few drops of dish soap, but I forgot to do it today and when I hosed off the driveway, I noticed that the blue paint had left behind a faint stain.  It isn’t very noticeable and will probably fade if we get a couple of good storms, but I wanted to warn you.  I don’t actually know if the dish soap prevents the staining, but I will probably add it from now on.

Here is my other warning: I can’t keep the neighborhood kids away when we are outside with this stuff.  Seriously, it is like child-bait.   I have gone through an entire large container of cornstarch from Sam’s club.

Rating: 4 Stars * (Fun, Easy, Independent, Frugal)

Carnivals:  This post is linked up to It’s Playtime at Quirky Mama.

 

 

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