Tuesday 29 June 2010

Colour me happy!

We had a colourful day today!

Ages ago I came across a great recipe for sidewalk paint or chalk paint.  I have no idea where I originally saw it and I couldn't remember quantities but eventually I came across it again here at littlebitfunky.com.

For the amount we used today I made up 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup cornflour, food colouring.  Mix the water and cornflour, divide it amongst the containers and colour it as pale or as vibrant as you want.

Today was the day to give it a go!


It looks yummy and colourful doesn't it?  It was so much fun that I went a little overboard with the photos so bear with me as you get to experience ALL of our fun through my 5zillion photos.

Lion and Dragon stir up the colours a bit (they settle out if left to sit, you can make it a science lesson on suspensions!) and wonder what they will paint...


Dragon does the colour picking dance... I was sure we were going to end up with the pots kicked across the patio and huge gobs of chalky colour dumped in one big mess.



It really is a hard decision!


Lion decides that a watermelon is what he wants to draw (I listed everything I could think of that used those colours and he like the watermelon idea... and was equally horrified by the thought of painting a lemon or lime for some reason).  I did get a photo of his whole watermelon vine but it didn't work out very well (my photo, not his painting).


Lion also tried a heart design.  I had painted something similar to experiment with how the colours would mix when painted over each other and he wanted to paint the same thing.


Monkey wanted to be in on the painting too!  We had to put the paint pots up out of his reach because if his brush stopped making colours he wanted to put it back to get more.  I would try and swap his brush for another but he didn't want to let go, it was quite difficult, he was having lots of fun!


Because it's all food ingredients, it's safe for eating!  The flecks of frog poo do not come with the same assurance of safety but I don't think it actually got into his mouth, just rubbed on his face.  Can anyone say "strong immune system" with me?


It's also safe for painting your little brother with... it was totally an accident of course!


Then when you have painted and painted and painted you do the only sensible thing left to do... you mix up all the colour that's left in one pot!  I love this shot of their little heads together, scheming working together.


Lion didn't want to commit to an outcome when I asked him to call it, Dragon picked it correctly saying it would be a yucky, dark green.

Then after all that hard work decorating the patio you need a colourful lunch...


So I coloured their 2minute noodles green!

So go, try this now!

The chalk, not the noodles.

Your kids will have a blast and so will you!

You can try the noodles too if you want, though they are not for the feint hearted.

9 comments:

  1. I can't WAIT TO TRY THIS! Will be buying some cheap paint brushes later today. Thank you so much for sharing! So cool and those noodles looked great too. What kid wouldn't want to eat them?

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  2. Great colours! We're a bit low on real paint at the moment, I'll have to keep this in mind when the painting urge takes the boys.
    Did it wash off easily enough?
    Love their happy little selves enjoying and creating.

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  3. What a fun idea!! My kids would LOVE it - does it clean up easily?
    Love Monkey's picture with paint on him - right in the action - so cute!

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  4. After hosing off the patio today, the blue and red have slightly stained the concrete (but it's just food dye so I am sure it will fade quickly) The areas where it was swept up a bit yesterday seem to not have stained as much.

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  5. I love those bright colors! I think my girls will love this activity...we're going to give it a try!

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  6. I want to try this forget about the kids. I buy sidewalk chalk for the kids (read, me) every Easter.

    The kids can have the noodles though, yuck!

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  7. This is such a brilliant idea (the painting not the green two minute noodles!

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  8. I am definitely going to try this. I am wondering though if it comes out of clothing? It looks pretty permanent.

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  9. How did I miss so many posts? I must have hit "all read" or something odd on Google Reader!

    Anyhow, what an awesome series of photos and what a great idea!

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