Color the Rainbow: Cornstarch Sidewalk Paint

I found this cool idea on a blog from the Pink and Green Mama. We gave it a try today.

This sidewalk/driveway paint is non-toxic and washable. Just mix corn starch, water, and food coloring to make your paint. Pink and Green Mama didn't give the recipe for how much corn starch and how much water, so I had to guess.

I mixed the paint in a cupcake pan. I started with 2 tablespoons
corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water, and I felt it was too thin.
In the end, I had about 4 tablespoons corn starch to about
1 tablespoon of water.

Some mixtures were thicker than others and those were given a tad more water. I do think overall I had it pretty thick though, and I could have put in a little more water to thin it out. It seemed fine as I was mixing, but when we started painting, it was obvious how thick it really was, but I didn't add any more water. I used both the gel type food coloring for some colors and the liquid type food coloring for other colors, and there didn't seem to be a difference in consistency.

I provided a container of clean water to wash out
brushes between colors.

Painting the sidewalk kept their attention much longer
than the average chalk would have.

Pink and Green Mama mentioned how, when the paint was dry, it did not keep the vibrant colors like she'd hoped. I, too, noticed that the colors faded somewhat when dry, but not to the extent that she mentioned. I was pretty generous with my food coloring. The purple color faded the most, but the other colors held up to the drying process much better.

It was really hot today, so we took a break from painting to
cool down with the help of our adorable turtle sprinkler.

And then it rained.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  Philippians 4:9