DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint

...And we're back!

 

It's been a looooooooooooong time since I last posted, but I'm so glad to be back to blogging!  I've saved up lots of great ideas and will hopefully, *fingers crossed*, be able to share one of them with you daily.

 

Yesterday, between our town's Fourth of July parade and the late-evening fireworks, my kids seemed to be just wandering around, looking for something to get into do.  I had seen recipes for homemade sidewalk chalk around the web, but hadn't had a chance to whip some up.  So I thought this would be the perfect opportunity, especially on a bright and sunny day!

 

The surprising part was that it was so easy and simple to make.  Don't you love recipes like that?!  Two ingredients + food color = BAM!  You're done!  Homemade sidewalk chalk paint!

 

 

Sidewalk Chalk Paint

• 2 T. corn starch
• 4 T. water
• food coloring

Directions

• Mix corn starch and water together in a muffin tin. (You could also use small bowls or whatever you have on hand.)
• Add food coloring to each "cup" in the muffin tin.
• Mixing different food colors is also a great opportunity for a lesson in color mixing.  We mixed: red + yellow = orange and red + blue = purple.

*Keep in mind that for younger kids (babies, toddlers, preschoolers), this paint is technically edible.  I'm thinking that you'll probably get a pretty disgusted look if your little one tries it though!  Please make sure to always supervise your child with activities like this.

 



Sweet Pea (my 7 year old) went straight to work, planning and painting our sidewalk.  Since it was July 4th, she decided to paint fireworks.  She noticed right away that as she painted and the paint dried, it changed to a lighter shade.  She thought it was pretty cool to watch the paint change right before her eyes!

 Pretty cool, huh?

 

 

Shortly after, Tough Guy (my 13 year old) came out to paint a message to our neighbors:

Happy 4th of July!

 

 

Yes, even the middle schooler wanted to participate.  They loved this, and it was so quick, easy and cheap to throw together.  We used chunky paint brushes for most, but Sweet Pea wanted a thinner brush for some of her details.  Painting the sidewalk "canvas" is definitely a first for us, but I'm sure we'll be doing it again and again this summer!

 

The sidewalk chalk paint dries like regular sidewalk chalk, and will wash off with rain or water.  Give it a try - your kids will love it!

 

See ya tomorrow!

 



Shake It Up Paintings and Spooky Science!

 Look at these gorgeous paintings the kids created on Monday!

 

They were created using a cylindrical container, paper, marbles and 2 colors of paint. After all that was placed in the container, the kiddos shook it up! I let them shake it for as long as they wanted. Some were finished in just a few seconds, and the others shook for a few minutes. They all turned out great!



On Friday, we did sort of Spooky Science experiements.  Ok, so they weren't so spooky, but they did still get lots of ooohs and ahhs, which is always the goal!

 

Our first experiment was the homemade lava lamp.  We added vegetable oil to an empty bottle, followed by red-tinted water.  We watched how the water seperated from the oil, and ended up in the bottom of the bottle.  Then came the fun part - each child got to drop a piece of an Alka Selzer tablet into the bottle.  We put the cap back on, and watched the magic happen!

 

This picture doesn't do the experiment justice.  It's a pretty amazing experiment! 





Our second experiment used a carved jack-o-lantern, vinegar, baking soda and green food coloring.  It started out looking like this....

 

and ended up like this!



 

The kiddos asked us to do this experiement over and over!  We heard lots of squeals, screams, and even one child, who exclaimed, "This is awesome!"  I love hearing that!  The children called it the burping/spitting up pumpkin.  We'll go with that!  They decided he must be spitting up from a tummy ache.  Maybe too much candy!

 

Also on Friday (but not nearly as exciting), we did our letter Dd activity (posts coming soon on our letter activities), and read the books It's Fall and Fall Changes.

 

See you on Monday for another exciting week of pre-k!