Sidewalk chalk is fun. You can make sidewalk chalk paint and brush it on. You can even use balls in sidewalk chalk paint to create some real fun (and fun learning). But we like to put another twist on it, too. Squeezie bottle sidewalk chalk!
You will need some squeezie bottles (we got ours at the local dollar store), cornstarch, water, and food coloring. If you are worried about the food coloring staining, you can just make it without it and it will dry a very bright white. It still looks really cool.
Pour your cornstarch in a bowl or container.
Add water and stir until you get a nice thin viscosity. you want it to be able to squeeze through the hole in the bottle.
Pour your sidewalk chalk paint into the bottle and add food coloring. My 3 year old daughter picked pink and my 5 year old son picked blue, but only after I told him that I could not make the paint camo. Then we had a discussion about how camo is NOT a color. Good grief. 😉
Now squeeze away.
We made hearts.
We made dragons. That is a Ninjago dragon in case you are wondering.
We mixed our colors. This was done to aggravate big brother, but it turned out to be really fun once I stepped in to point out the cool effects they were making together.
We ran and squeezed. My 3 year noticed that when she ran and squeezed she only got dots in a line and not an actual line. Very cool observation. So we talked a little about it and demonstrated.
We left our mark all over the driveway. Daddy came home to a neat surprise.
Kim is a contributing writer for No Time For Flash Cards, a mom to a toddler, a preschooler, and a foster parent, too. She juggles her day by trying out fun activities and crafts with the kids. After all, she is just a big kid herself. See what she has been up to over at Mom Tried It.
Amy says
Love it! I especially love Charley and Cole’s boots though. So fun!
Roopa says
Love the big squeeze bottles!! We has used empty glue bottles when we tried this last year http://www.puttiprapancha.com/2011/06/sidewalk-paint-in-squeeze-bottles.html
Rachel says
Question – When you say staining do you mean their clothes or the concrete? Did you have any trouble with it washing away clean from the driveway?
Thanks!
wendy says
How did this clean up? Can you just rinse off with water?
Lisa Marie Mary says
I love this and I totally want to try it this summer! I am curious, too, though – how did it clean up? Somebody around here gets kind of fussy about the driveway being clean! *ahem*Daddy*ahem* Sheesh! ;-P
admin says
This made me giggle I could have written it myself !
Kim Young says
Rachel and Wendy, I was talking about staining the skin. The driveway does not get stained. It will wash off with a hose or the next rain. My kids love to grab a scrub brush and a bucket and scrub it off, too. They are weird, I know.
The food coloring can stain your skin or clothes a bit, depending on how much you use. We use a LOT so fingertips were tinted for a little bit. After the post about using a tennis ball in the liquid sidewalk chalk, a reader shared that shaving cream will remove food coloring stains from clothes. I tested it out and it works really well. I have also used shaving cream on the kids’ hands with a nail brush or cheap toothbrush. Took the food coloring right out. 😉
I hope that helps. If you have any more questions, let me know. I will be happy to help.
crystal@growingajeweledrose says
Fantastic spin on sidewalk chalk paint! Love the boots!
Michele says
Could you use alittle washable paint instead of food coloring?
admin says
I am guessing it would be too diluted but I will forward this to Kim the posts author.
Kim says
Michele, I don’t see a problem using washable paint at all. It will be lighter and dry very faint pastel, but that doesn’t take away from the fun of mixing colors. 😉
Jess says
This is awesome! And I really had to comment because my daughter’s name is Charley too! 🙂
Becky says
If you don’t have shaving cream around 1 quart of water with 1/2 teaspoon of laundry detergent and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar also gets food coloring out of clothes. You just let the clothing soak in the mixture for at least 15 mins, rinse with cold water and then wash normally. :o)
Shannon says
*Off topic* I was wondering what you used to color her hair? My 3year old wants color hair too but I was not wanting to dye it, and everything else rubs off on everything.
bluebluehenmoma says
Thanks for the great idea. My daughter and I played with this craft and while she had a fantastic time I had some trouble getting the right consistency. I felt it was either too thick to come out of the bottle except in dribbles or I put too much water in trying to thin it out and it was too runny. My daughter still had a blast! I would just recommend putting in a few drop of water at a time once you put it in the bottles to get the right consistency. Thanks for sharing!
nicole says
I do would love to know how you put the streaks in your daughter’s hair. Mine is dying for hair like strawberry shortcake 🙁 Maybe a few *very small* strands would make her happy!
admin says
I am going to contact Kim our contributing writer who wrote this – so she can let you know!
Amanda Talbert says
I linked to you after I did this!
http://thefrugalreport.blogspot.com/2012/10/frugal-game-squeezie-sidewalk-chalk.html
Thanks for all the great ideas on this blog!
Lisa Asmus says
I bought some squirt bottles at a yard sale this weekend. I bought 5 opaque white ones and one red. I put the water/starch/dye mixtures in the opaque bottles and plain water in the red one. The kids loved coloring on our driveway! And it was super easy to make! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Jennifer Hughes says
This post is perfect for the Monday Kid Corner Weekly Linky Party. The next party goes live Sunday morning and this week’s theme is SIDEWALK CHALK. Be sure to brush off those archives as well and link them up at http://thejennyevolution.com/category/linky-parties/monday-kid-corner/ See you there! Jennifer
Cassandra says
Great project for kids, creative idea; help with math , science and art skills.