Homemade sidewalk chalk paint makes an easy and beautiful outdoor activity!
Have you seen those beautiful pictures of sidewalk chalk mosaics floating around Pinterest? I thought making one with my toddler would be the perfect outdoor activity for both of us!
We were running super low on sidewalk chalk and everyone seemed to be sold out or on back order. So we decided to improvise and make our own sidewalk chalk paint!
Our DIY sidewalk chalk paint turned out beautifully. It made the colors in our mosaic so vibrant.
My almost-2-year-old daughter loves painting, and making the paint turned out to be a fun sensory activity in itself. This activity was a hit!
Our sidewalk chalk recipe is SO easy – only 3 ingredients, and chances are you already have them in your pantry!
How to Make Sidewalk Chalk Paint
Want to know a secret about our sidewalk chalk paint? We used the same recipe that we use to make oobleck!
If you haven’t made it before, oobleck is a fun sensory substance that behaves as both a solid and a liquid, but is really neither. This is known as a non-Newtonian substance.
When you put pressure on the mixture it feels like a solid, but once you scoop it up it behaves like a liquid!
It makes a great paint for an activity like this because it spreads across the sidewalk some, but “hardens” before it gets too thin. So you end up with really vibrant colors!
Sidewalk Chalk Paint Recipe
Ingredients
- one part cornstarch
- one part water
- food coloring*
*If you don’t have food coloring you can use washable paint – just play around with the amounts until you have a paint-like substance.
Making DIY Sidewalk Chalk Paint
- Combine equal parts cornstarch and water in a bowl. Mix it up until smooth.
- Pour the mixture in separate bowls to make different colors.
- Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl, enough to make the colors vibrant. Keep in mind they will lighten as the paint dries, so add a little extra.
How to Make a Sidewalk Chalk Mosaic
Sidewalk chalk mosaics turn out beautifully using this homemade sidewalk chalk paint!
You’ll need:
- sidewalk chalk paint (or regular sidewalk chalk)
- painter’s tape
- paintbrushes
Making a Sidewalk Chalk Mosaic
Begin by creating a square or rectangle using painter’s tape or masking tape. Or you can just choose a square of sidewalk to work with, which is what we did. Then use the tape to form different shapes within your rectangle to create a design.
Color in your shapes different colors using your sidewalk chalk paint. If you have sidewalk chalk you could just use that!
My daughter enjoyed using the paint but knocked it over after a little while! We had a tiny bit of sidewalk chalk left so we colored some of our mosaic using that.
You can really tell the difference in the colors – the paint fills in the shape completely and makes a more vibrant color!
We ended up making a little more paint to finish off the mosaic. When we were done, my daughter wanted to paint rocks using the leftover paint!
She also had fun making designs on the sidewalk by pouring it out.
Between making the paint and completing the mosaic, this activity took us hours and we were able to spread it out over two days, which was awesome!
Will you make a sidewalk mosaic with your toddler? If you do, share your creation on Instagram using the hashtag #happytoddlerclub and tag @happytoddlerclub! We would love to see!
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