Super sidewalk paint

The days are warmer and summer time is near. It's time to start thinking about activities that kids of all ages can enjoy. My nephew's birthday is next week, so Q and I were trying to think of something fun and simple to send to him. I was given a stack of past issues of Family Fun Magazine recently and I've been enjoying looking through all of the great ideas. One of the things that caught my eye was on how to make your own sidewalk paint.

I thought it would be neat to send him a "super sidewalk paint kit." I just had to try the recipe out myself to see if it really worked! I made two bowls of paint--red and blue. Here's the recipe for it:

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

food coloring

paintbrush

In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and cold water. Stir in as many drops of food coloring as you need to get your desired color. Repeat this process for each paint color. Use a paintbrush to make fun designs on the sidewalk or driveway. To wash the paint off, spray the area with water. I found that after a few minutes of painting that the cornstarch starts to form into a lump on the bottom of the bowl. Stir it up every now and then to keep a good consistency.

I painted on the cement that borders our garden area. When I was done using the blue and red paint, I mixed the two colors to make lavender paint.

I wrote, "Happy Birthday" using all three colors. I printed this picture and glued it onto a blank card for our nephew, Gabriel. 

Here's what I did to make the kit I mentioned earlier. I used an empty drink mix canister and glued on this festive scrap booking paper. I painted "super sidewalk paint kit" onto some other paper and glued that on the canister. Inside the can, I placed a sandwich bag with one cup of cornstarch (enough for four bowls of paint), two foam paintbrushes, four food coloring bottles and instructions on how to make the paint. I also wrote down some ideas that the magazine gave, as well as some I came up with, on what to do with the paint. I know that Gabriel and his siblings will enjoy painting with this stuff all summer long!

1. Try making a road for your toy cars to ride in.

2. Paint a zoo full of animals.

3. Decorate the walkway to your house for special occasions like birthdays and holidays.

4. Draw your family, your favorite foods--the list can go on!

5. You can put this paint in spray bottles and use it to color sand castles and snow sculptures.

I love this kind of stuff! For us, it will be a great thing to have on hand when young guests come over. We can quickly make up some paint and have them head outside and paint away! Hope you enjoy it, too.