Friday, July 16, 2010

Summertime Sidewalk Painting

july2010 056 Last summer we had a lot of fun making sidewalk paint and using it on our patio.  I had completely forgotten about this great activity, but apparently it stuck with M, who asked me about it a few days ago. 

Here’s the oh-so-simple recipe:
1 part cornstarch to 1 part cold water
5 to 6 drops of food coloring for each color you want to make.
We used 2/3 Cups of both cornstarch and water.  And we ended up with two good-sized containers worth of paint (a bit bigger than an applesauce or jello snack container).  It went fast, so we definitely could’ve used more!july2010 054
Just mix the water slowly into the cornstarch.  If you are using a whole box of cornstarch, you’ll need to use a whisk or maybe an electric mixer.  Pour it into your individual containers, then add your food coloring and gently mix it in.   Food coloring will stain clothing so be careful!!  It did wash completely off of our driveway with the first rain, so no worries there, although you could always use a dab of washable paint for color in place of the food coloring.

We used regular old paintbrushes and some foam brushes to paint with.  It’s fun to watch the watery paint dry quickly in the sun – it becomes so vibrant as it dries!  Pretty, pretty, pretty. :)

M drew a pirate ship.  Obviously. ;)  And some other things I can’t remember.  I drew our family and the earth and sun.  It’s really hard to resist getting down and having fun with this sidewalk paint – we had a wonderful time doing this together!july2010 055 july2010 057july2010 056
Have a beautiful day! :)

9 comments:

  1. What a great outdoor activity! Does the paint come off easily - my husband is a little anal about the presentable look for our driveway :)

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  2. What a fun idea! And your paintings look great.

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  3. This looks like LOTS of fun! Thanks for the recipe, Nicole. :)

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  4. I have had this on my list of things to do for a while now! Need to do it!

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  5. I have homemade cornstarch painting on my summer to do list too. Yours came out great!

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  6. That looks like a fun idea-think I'll have to save it for one of our rain free days here in our South African winter.

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  7. oooh i wanna try this! thanks for the recipe! Hope to try it soon

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