Fizzing Sidewalk Paint Craft

Summer is here and it’s time to start thinking about ideas to keep the kids entertained. That is why I’m so excited about the new book, 101 Kids Activities, by two of my favorite bloggers and friends!

If you have kids, you will LOVE 101 Kids Activities by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller from Kids Activities Blog! I’m excited to share one of the cool kid activities from the book today along with a giveaway!

This book really will save me this summer! Full of simple crafts, boredom busters, games and experiments, now I won’t have to think much this summer, just tell the kids to open up the book and pick an idea to do! Yay! Thanks Holly and Rachel:-)

From Slimy Goop Recipes and Simple Science Play to DIY Water Bottle Bangles, you’ll find creative ideas for both boys and girls. After flipping through the book, it’s really hard to decide which one to do first.

My daughter has been bookmarking the ideas she wants to do this summer! We have a lot saved.

What I love so much about this book are the modified ideas for younger and older kids. I wish I had this as a teenager when I spent several summers babysitting! If you have babysitters, this book is a must get for them.

Enjoy this cool craft idea for kids and be sure to scroll down (or click over to the blog if you are reading from email) to enter to win a FREE 101 Kids Activities book!

Fizzing Sidewalk Paint

[pullquote]From 101 Kids Activities by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller, printed with permission of Page Street Publishing June 2014[/pullquote]This activity trumps ordinary sidewalk chalk with a little science magic by creating a chalk-based paint and then spritzing on a little fizz. It all starts with pH. When solutions that are pH base mix with an acid, action happens!

You’ll need

Large mixing bowl
1 (1-pound [454 g]) box baking soda
½ cup (63 g) cornstarch
Warm water
Several containers to hold the paint
Food coloring
Paintbrush(es)
Spray bottle filled with vinegar—1 per child
Buckets for cleanup

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, mix the baking soda and the cornstarch together. Add the warm (almost hot) water, stirring until it is the consistency of pancake batter. Split the recipe into several containers, adding the food coloring color of your choice to each.

Use the homemade paint to create a scene or flick it with a paintbrush into a modern masterpiece. It is best to work fast because the paint dries quickly (but can always be diluted with the addition of more warm water).

Once the painting is in place, it is time for something a little extra. Spray the artwork with the vinegar-filled bottle and watch what happens. Your artwork will sizzle and pop!

About Cleanup

A bucketful of water splashed across the art can make it disappear. Because that is fun, too, you might not want to wait for rain.

Modifications for Younger Kids

If a paintbrush is hard to negotiate in the paint, give your children a spoon and let them drip or drop spoonfuls of paint onto the pavement. For the little ones, be sure to fully supervise when they spray vinegar. It can sting little eyes.

Modifications for Older Kids

This activity is an easy way to work in a lesson on reactions between acids and base chemicals and talk about why this works. Maybe you can have your budding scientists adapt the recipe to see whether they can get bigger bubbles and more fizz in their next batch of paint.

TIP

Do you have a prewriting preschooler? Use a turkey baster to squirt vinegar at the paint. The grasping and squeezing helps strengthen finger muscles they will use when they are writing.