Being a stay at home mom to two toddlers can be so tiring. One of the things that makes me the most tired at the end of the day is that I usually run out of things to do with them quickly on a daily basis. Some days it seems like their attention spans last for mere seconds before they are ready to move on from one activity to the next. That is why I have to have a crap load of back up activities always ready in my back pocket. One of the activities we recently did that both my kids loved, both my three year old daughter and one year old son, was sidewalk paint. My kids love being outside and they love making messes, so this activity was perfect for them because they were able to do both of those things and it was perfect for me because I didn’t have to clean up those messes!
One of the best things about sidewalk paint is that the supplies needed to make it are most likely stashed away somewhere in your kitchen and even if you do need to buy one or two of them they won’t break the bank.
Supplies:
-Squeeze-e bottles
-Water
-Corn starch
-Food coloring
Directions:
The first step will work best with a funnel that fits in the top of the squeeze-e bottles.
1. Add equal parts corn starch and water into each of the squeeze-e bottles using the funnel.
I added about 1/2 a cup of each but depending on the size of squeeze-e bottle you get you can add more. The amount I ended up using was used up quickly by my kids so the next time I do this with them I will be adding at least double what I used this past time.
2. Grab a cute helper, remember to put the top back on the squeeze-e bottles, and let your helper shake the corn starch and water mixtures until the corn starch is fully dissolved.
Yes I know she looks thrilled. She had fun helping me make the sidewalk paint but being a toddler it isn’t surprising that she would keep a straight face when I had asked her to smile… silly girl.
3. Add some food coloring to each mixture and shake, but remember to replace the cap.
If you don’t end up getting a vibrant enough color than just add more food coloring and shake. Repeat this until you get a color you like.
That is it! Three easy steps to make your sidewalk paint and if you were smarter than me you made way more than just half of the bottle and your kids will have minutes of fun instead of just the usual seconds that they would be interested in most other activities.
My kids had so much fun “decorating” the driveway in a whole new way. They spun around in circles and shot the sidewalk paint in the air and I didn’t have to worry about clothes getting dirty or it getting in their hair. I knew what it was made of wasn’t toxic and it would easily wash off of clothes in the washer or off of children in a bath.
There are also so many fun ways to alter this activity so that doing it more than once won’t become boring. Just Pinterest sidewalk paint and you can find ways to make it explode or even turn it into puffy sidewalk paint.
What colors would your kids want their sidewalk paint to be? What would their favorite part of sidewalk paint be? If you end up making some sidewalk paint of your own don’t forget to let us know and share pictures on our FB page, we would love to hear, and see, how it turned out.
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