I have seen a lot of sidewalk chalk paint at stores lately, and naturally the kids have been begging me to buy it for them to try out. Since the paints we have seen cost anywhere from $10-15 per set, I keep telling them "No way!" even though it does admittedly look like a lot of fun. I did a quick Google search, but could only find recipes involving powdered tempera paint, which is probably one of the only items we don't actually have in our craft closet. Luckily for me, Valerie over at Frugal Family Fun (can you tell yet that this is one of my favorite blogs?) posted a recipe to make your own sidewalk chalk paint for mere pennies - with no obscure ingredients!
The recipe calls for 2 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp of water, but since my measuring spoons were in the dishwasher, I just made sure to use a 1:1 ratio of the mix. Add a few drops of food coloring, grab some brushes, and you're good to go! My colors were SO bright in the container that I was worried that I'd made them too bright, but they dried to a nice normal pastel chalk shade. I was also worried that too much food coloring would make it difficult to wash off of our light colored concrete patio, but it was easy peasy!
As long as your "paint" has been thoroughly mixed it should brush on to the concrete as easily as water. In the summer heat, even the goopiest of the kids paintings should dry in just a minute or two to a chalky pastel finish.
If it hadn't been 106 degrees outside at 6:00 p.m., I'm pretty sure this would have been an even bigger hit! We will definitely be revisiting this activity on a cooler evening :)
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