Make your own three ingredient sidewalk paint and you’re ready to create this easy chalk art mural. It’s big, colorful, and SO fun!
Make your own sidewalk paint…
This chalk paint is one of my favorite art recipes because it’s SO easy. It’s got three ingredients, one of which is water, so that barely even counts, right? All you need are equal parts cornstarch and water plus a little food coloring. Check out this post for details on the recipe.
Let’s make sidewalk paint together…
Watch the video above to make the sidewalk paint you need for this easy chalk art mural. It’s a super simple recipe and has plenty of wiggle room – even your littlest artist can be in charge of this recipe!
Outline your sidewalk mural….
Prepare your cement for your chalk mural by making sure it’s clean. There’s no need to wash your cement but going over it with a broom or a blower will get any dirt/dust off that might prevent the tape from sticking.
Grab some painters tape- any width will do. The tape in the picture is 1″ in width. Use the tape to outline whatever shapes you choose for your sidewalk mural. The idea here is that the tape will provide some distinct outlines and spaces to paint within.
This method is a great way to make giant letters, basic shapes, or even more complex pictures like a landscape.
Once the design in complete have your young artists take their shoes off and follow the tape around, stepping on it. This will help the tape adhere tightly to the surface, preventing any paint from leaking under the edges.
Painting a sidewalk mural…
The painters tape clearly defines all of the outlines and shapes with your subject, in this case a heart. There’s no need to paint slowly or cautiously trying to stay within the lines. Now is the time to let your kiddos freely paint, splash, splatter, and enjoy the feeling of creating.
No matter where the paint ends up you’ll still see that nice clean outline when the tape comes off!
The best paint brushes for making a sidewalk mural….
The paint brushes you choose for painting your sidewalk mural are purely a matter of choice. Little brushes are, of course, great for detail work. But I think the real fun of this projects comes from the freedom to paint big.
Big brushes, such as those used for painting walls easily splash on lots of color. Big areas get covered quickly which is a fun and gratifying way to create. This is the kind of painting that allows for entire body movement!
My kids loved using a giant utility brush like this one.
If you don’t have big paint brushes you could even try painting with a kitchen brush, a utility brush, or a small broom. Be creative- this is a no perfection required sort of activity!
Removing the tape from your chalk art mural….
This sidewalk chalk paint dries quickly- about as fast as water evaporates. BY the time you work from one end of your design to the other it will be dry. When it’s “mostly” dry start at one end of your design and peel the painters tape off.
The lines underneath will be clean and show the cement underneath! I love the combination of wild, messy paint and neat, straight lines!
FAQ about easy sidewalk chalk art….
Will this sidewalk chalk paint stain my cement?
We’ve painted with this recipe many times over the past 2-3 years and have no lasting stains from the paint. Sometimes it will leave “shadow” until it’s been rained on a few times. I think this depends on the amount of food coloring added to the recipe and how many days the artwork bakes in the sun before being rained on.
Any stains wash away after a few rains.
Will this chalk paint stain my children’s clothes?
The pigment in this paint is food coloring. It is possible that clothes may be permanently stained by this paint. The amount of pigment per the amount of liquid means this paint contains very diluted pigment. My kids have gotten this on clothing and it has washed out- no problem.
As always I suggest wearing old clothes anytime you’re making art with little ones. Worrying about being neat subtracts from the joy of making!
Will this chalk paint stain my children’s skin?
If your kiddos get pure food coloring on their skin as they’re making this sidewalk chalk paint it will stain their skin. Once the paint is mixed up the pigment is diluted enough that it will no longer stain skin. Any paint residue left on them will easily wash off.
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