Who Wants to Make a Mess?

I remember last summer running across a blog post about making your own sidewalk paint for kids. I think it might have been Amanda Probst. Good idea! Never got around to it until this week.

I judge whether or not toddler activity is a good one based on how long it can keep the kid occupied without crying, whining, or needing a parental unit to interfere... and by that I mean getting out of the lawn chair. Giving directions, encouragement, and the occasional "don't eat that dried worm!" yelled from the sidelines is permitted. One hour is the benchmark of an EXCELLENT activity. This one hit the mark without any problem.



So, super simple. Corn starch, water, food coloring, muffin tins, and some foam brushes. I bet you don't even have to go buy anything. I mixed up a real thin solution of corn starch and water in a pyrex measuring cup, poured the white "paint" into the muffin tins. I added a few drops of food coloring to the solution when it was separated in the tin so I could do different colors. Less than five minutes, seriously. Check out Hank's palette.




Then just out the door with grubbies on. Sit back and enjoy. Try not to freak when the kid start getting creative. Aw...it will all clean up with the next rainfall. Leaving Hank outside until it does:).



For all you stampers out there, have you stamped with your kids? Even the little ones? I've had mixed success. Ink pads and hands and clothes...eh, I don't really want to go there. But I found the coolest ink pad the other day that eliminates the problem. There's a Color Wonder Crayola pack called Story Stampers that has an ink pad full of the Color Wonder Ink. Will only show up on Color Wonder paper. :) We're using the book and stamps that comes with the pack now and once that is gone, we'll move onto my extra rubber stamps and blank Color Wonder Paper. He loves this too.