Sidewalk Artists

During "Science Weekend" last weekend, amidst failed experiments, exploding sodas, and dancing raisins, we also hit on an excellent recipe for sidewalk paint.

These pictures were trapped on our new camera and I just now found the appropriate cable to share them. Technology is frequently not my friend.

Anyhoo...the recipe (yet again from the Book of Kid Concoctions) is equal parts of cornstarch and water with a few drops of food coloring to add, well, color.

Be very careful when you are mixing the cornstarch and water together. It starts out very difficult to stir and if you aren't careful and don't supervise children carefully you can end up with a fine chalky coating all over your entire kitchen. Not that I would know. Just guessing.

Since it was crazy hot out, the paints were drying on contact with the sidewalk so we added a bit more water to make things flow a little better.

The kids very much enjoyed using these paints. They were doing some kind of Jackson Pollack thing with a lot of flinging and splashing. I was attempting to be very zen about it and only screamed "CUT THAT OUT!!" a couple of times.

And then I did a little painting of my own.

The "paint" easily washed out of the spattered clothing. And the rain (the endless endless rain) has washed it all away now.

So we can do this again. And maybe I can lighten up a little bit now that I know we won't be stained forever.