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Sidewalk Chalk Paint

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Learn how to make sidewalk chalk paint and keep your children entertained all day long with this quick and easy kids art and craft activity! A great outdoor summer craft for kids!

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DIY sidewalk chalk paint is one of our favorite (and inexpensive!) outdoor summer activities! We’ve previously shared our favorite homemade chalk paint recipe before, but it is SO much fun that I couldn’t resist bringing it up one more time! Making your own sidewalk chalk paint is super easy, and it only requires a couple of ingredients, so virtually ANYONE can do it!

How to Make Sidewalk Chalk Paint:

Mix together the water and cornstarch, and stir until the cornstarch dissolves. Our chalk paint recipe generally calls for a 1:1 ratio of cornstarch and water, but since we were painting on the sidewalk instead of paper, I incorporated just a bit more water and found that we liked it even better. We were able to paint longer brushstrokes without needing to reload the paintbrush with paint, which is always great for younger kids. Divide the paint mixture into the wells of a muffin tin or similar painting tray, and add food coloring to achieve the desired colors – note that the colors will dry much lighter on the sidewalk than they appear in the tin!

Large kids paintbrushes work best, but any paintbrush will do!
Since the entire batch of paint only costs about $.50 to make, I never have to worry about them ruining expensive paints when it comes time to experiment with color mixing (Sutton’s specialty!).

When the kids were done painting with the paintbrushes, they decided to paint their hands and feet and make hand/footprints on the sidewalk. They had a blast with it! The paint washes off their skin easily with soap and water, and we didn’t run into any problems with the food coloring staining their skin or the concrete.

 
Of course, around here, you can’t play with sidewalk chalk without making hopscotch!
These guys hopscotched and painted with our homemade sidewalk chalk paint for almost two hours! That’s a huge parenting win!

Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Learn how to make sidewalk chalk paint and keep your children entertained all day long with this quick and easy kids art and craft activity! A great outdoor summer craft for kids!
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 5 minutes

What You’ll Need:

Instructions:

  • Mix together the water and cornstarch, and stir until the cornstarch dissolves.
  • Divide the paint mixture into the wells of a muffin tin or similar painting tray.
  • Add food coloring to achieve the desired colors – note that the colors will dry much lighter on the sidewalk than they appear in the tin!
  • Go Paint! Large kids paintbrushes work best, but any paintbrush will do!

Notes:

Our chalk paint recipe generally calls for a 1:1 ratio of cornstarch and water, but since we were painting on the sidewalk instead of paper, I incorporated just a bit more water and found that we liked it even better. We were able to paint longer brushstrokes without needing to reload the paintbrush with paint, which is always great for younger kids.
Did You Make This?Mention @HeidiKundin or tag #HIHMakersClub on Instagram to show off your awesome work! ♥

NOTE:

We didn’t have any problems with staining or clean up (our paint hosed cleanly away and easily washed off of the children with soap and water), but I cannot guarantee that the food coloring might not stain, especially if you have light or very porous concrete. Please use at your own discretion…it also works great on dark colored construction paper, so if you’re worried about clean up, that’s another fun way to try it out!

Check Out These Other Fun Kids Activities!

If you like this easy DIY Sidewalk Chalk, don’t forget to pin it!

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  1. Michelle Newhouse says

    Have you used it on the road? Halloween is near and i would like to make a designated walking area with cones and Halloween characters on the road for the kids to follow and be safe from cars. I do live near a busy street with no crosswalk and dimly lit corner.

    I have 2 traffic cones and a bright light. All i need is something fun that will stand out on the rode for the kids to follow.

    Reply

  2. jennifer says

    my sister in law randomly found your blog on pinterest and sent me a screenshot of the pic of your two boys above painting – I also have a Sutton and a Sawyer (both girls tho). anyway – just thought that was completely random! especially Sutton – don’t hear it real often!

    Reply

  4. Anonymous says

    Have you tried using this on an actual chalk board? I would love to have a an alternative to drawing with chalk on my framed chalk board that I have to document my pregnancy.

    Reply

    • Heidi @ Mom's Crafty Space says

      Yes! We’ve used it on our outdoor chalkboards (homemade with plywood and chalkboard paint), and it works great. You may need to use a bit of water to help remove it as it tends to stick to the chalkboard more than normal chalk does.

      Reply

  5. Anonymous says

    One question; does it stain their clothes? I’d love to do this with my sister’s kids and I need to know if I need to grab ‘play clothes’ for them.

    Reply

    • Heidi @ Moms Crafty Space says

      I’ve never had an issue with it staining clothes or the concrete since I use a pretty small amount of food coloring in ratio to the water/corn starch mix….but, I’d still probably use play clothes anyway, just in case! 🙂

      Reply

  7. Heidi @ Mom's Crafty Space says

    @ Bumble Baybees – I tried replying to your comment via email, but you have your return address turned off 🙂

    I have made this paint and left it out (covered) for a couple of days, and it has been fine. After about three days it does start to get a little stinky, so maybe just plan on making it the day before. Usually it doesn’t last that long around here anyway! I’ve never tried putting it in the fridge, so I’m not sure if that would help it keep longer 🙂

    Reply

  8. Bumble Baybees says

    If you make it the night before will it stay covered in the fridge or just covered??? I am in love with this idea btw. We are having a “baby pool party” at our house. This will be the craft for the kids!!!

    Reply

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