Inspired by posts on several of my favorite blogs, we decided to try out sidewalk paint. We didn’t have corn starch, so I substituted flour. That worked pretty well, but flour doesn’t wash out of paint brushes as well as corn starch, so we’ll be buying some corn starch to use in future sidewalk chalk adventures. The paint was really easy to make (equal parts flour/corn starch and water, add food coloring and stir), and this activity kept both kids entertained for the better part of an hour.
They started off painting daintily with paintbrushes. I offered them larger brushes (which I still think would work better), but they wanted to use these little tiny ones.
Next they experimented with drip painting, followed by finger painting.
Finally, Johnny decided to use the sidewalk paint to give himself a foot mask, as well as to deep condition his hair. When they were done I carried them straight from the patio to the tub for a much-needed bath.
Here is their final masterpiece, fully dried:
