DIY Sidewalk Paint for Outdoor Family Fun

This shop and DIY sidewalk paint tutorial has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PurellWipes #CollectiveBias

After what feels like weeks of nonstop rain, we were finally supposed to get a break with two days of sun over the weekend.  I woke up on Friday to find that we had been granted a bonus day, as the skies were clear and it was already warming up.  It was a little bit like being in school and finding out it was an early release day that you didn’t know about.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, as when I walked outside nearly the entire neighborhood was out.  There were lawn mowers being gassed up, lawns raked, garages being cleaned.  We all had spring cleaning fever and no one was going to let the opportunity to get some work done pass us by before the rain started to fall again.

While hubby dutifully went out to cut the grass, Bubbles and I went to Walmart to get a few cleaning supplies.  I needed some work gloves (do you know how many spiders can find their way into a garage during the winter? A lot), supplies to paint the mailbox, and a few others things.  Of course, when Bubbles saw that I was getting things to paint with, she thought she’d like to paint, too.

I thought paint could actually be a great way to keep Bubbles entertained while we were all outdoors, but not the kind of paint I would be using.  But it’s easy to whip up some DIY sidewalk paint.

DIY Sidewalk Paint

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cornstarch
• food coloring in desired shades
• paint brushes

Just mix together the water and the cornstarch until it’s smooth (as Bubbles mixed it she commented that it looked like milk).  I used one of my batter bowls, and then carried the base mix outside with our other supplies (to help contain the mess).

I had found a couple of plastic egg trays while we were at Walmart on clearance for under a quarter each.  These made great wells for paint mixing, but you could use disposable cups or an inexpensive muffin tin, too.  The batter bowl spout made it easy to pour the base into each of the wells, and then I started adding the food coloring.

I had some bright neon food coloring, so it only took 2-3 drops to achieve vivid colors, but depending on what you’re using, you may need a few more.  After making a couple each of the original colors, we started making new shades by mixing two or three colors together.  This was especially fun for Bubbles who has asked a lot lately about which colors you need to mix to make certain other colors.

Armed with a handful of paint brushes, and an old pair of pants and shirt, she set to brightening up the driveway while Daddy and I worked.  Of course I had to take a few breaks to do a little painting, myself.  Her giggles were infectious, and who doesn’t want to paint jewel-tone rocks outside?

When we were done I pulled the hose out to spray everything down and everything washed away easily.  Much to Bubbles’ delight, I also gave her a little misting now and then.

To get her really clean, though, I handed her some of the PURELL® Hand Sanitizing Wipes I had found in the home cleaning section at Walmart.  They’re safe to use on both hands and face so she could get cleaned up all on her own (which to my independent kiddo is a big deal).

I always keep PURELL® Hand Sanitizer in the car, and now I’ll also be tucking one of these canisters of new PURELL® Hand Sanitizing Wipes into my “on the go” bad, too.  They’re great for quickly cleaning up messes from your kids’ faces and hands while still killing 99.99% of illness-causing germs on hands.

They’re new, so if you’re having trouble finding them, be sure to look in the home cleaning aisle or area at Walmart.  I found mine between the home fragrances and other types of cleaning wipes.  Check out their loyalty program and grab yourself a coupon before you head out, and don’t forget the DIY sidewalk paint supplies, too!

A video posted by Liza Coulter (@lmc50222) on Apr 13, 2015 at 11:14am PDT

Have you tried DIY sidewalk paint before?