Sidewalk Chalk Painting Toddler Activity

This week was super hot, y’all!  We usually spend entire days outside, but after about an hour, everyone was ready to come in.  Thankfully, the evenings cooled off a tad, so we played and grilled out.

I told Bryson on Saturday that we would paint, but soon realized I didn’t have brushes.  He asked the entire day “You going to get brushes, mama?”  I had to go to the grocery store for dinner, so I thought I’d pick some up.  Two trips and  threes stores later, I finally found some cheap sponge brushes at Dollar General.  I still have figured out what they were in the automotive section.  By the time I made home and we ate, it was too late in the day. 

I wasn’t going to let Sunday pass by without some painting fun though!  Bryson and I whipped up a batch of homemade liquid sidewalk chalk.  It is so simple and you can find recipes all over the web.

All you need is cornstarch, water, and food coloring.  Mix equal parts cornstarch and water.  I used about 1/4 cup of each.  Use a spoon and stir well; it’ll be goopy where the cornstarch has settled at the bottom.  Once you have it smooth, add in your food coloring.  I used neon liquid food colorand gel colors and both worked great.  I mixed it all up in an aluminum muffin pan that I picked up at Dollar General.  They were 2 for $1.25.

As you can see from the photos, our colors all ended up mixed thanks to a certain toddler.  It turned out so neat!  With one swipe, we’d have three different colors, so we called them our rainbows.  I honestly had as much fun, if not more, than Bryson.  The colors go on wet, but they dry and look like chalk. 

Miss Bella not so contentedly watched from her Bumbo.  It was burning up outside, thus the naked baby.  She didn’t last long before I had to take her back inside.  Look at how chubby she is!

Daddy even took a break from planting tomatoes to get in on the action.  When Bryson started asking me to draw a “Lightning McQueen” car, hubby knew he had to rescue me.  I cannot draw to save my life… a stick man is about the extent of my drawing abilities.  Bryson thinks his daddy his the bomb, because he can draw a car.  (I totally agree!)

This isn’t as messy as you’d think.  I put Bryson in play clothes and let him have at it.  The paint came right off the sidewalk with water and didn’t stain his skin at all.  You could have different results, but it was fairly mess-free as far as painting goes!

To see our complete list of upcoming activities, check out our Family Summer To Do List.

If you give this a try, let me know so I can check it out!’

*Linking up at Tatertots & Jello

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