Strap on your art smock, it's gonna get messy!

My kids love sidewalk chalk.

I mean they LOVE sidewalk chalk.

But some days, they don't want to draw, they want to paint.  What's a frugal Mom to do?  Mix up a few cups of sidewalk paint and let them have at it!

I put two heaping spoonfuls of corn starch in each cup of  a muffin tin; one cup for each color paint you want to make.  Next, add in a squeeze of gel food coloring or a dozen or so drops of liquid.  You can always add more later, so don't worry about being exact.  Now it gets messy, so you may want to do this next step outside, especially if you've got little helpers.

I used a pop bottle, rinsed and filled with cool water, to add a bit of liquid to each cup.  Stir the mix around and add more water, if necessary.  You'll know you've got it right when the cornstarch isn't clumpy anymore, but you do want it to be a little thick, so add the water in small amounts.  Do this step one cup at a time, otherwise the other cups will be solid bricks by the time you're finished mixing the first.

A few things to note:

*This paint dries very quickly and becomes slightly paler as it dries.
*As you can see in the pictures, we used several different kinds of brushes.  The bristled brushes, natural and synthetic, were harder to use.  They pick up more of the cornstarch and don't spread the colors as nicely as the foam brushes.  However, all the brushes we used were super easy to clean by running them under cold water until the water ran clear, then switching to hot to make sure they were good and clean. 
*Because you're using food coloring, you don't want to get this all over the house or your clothes - that's what art smocks or old, holey t-shirts are for.
*If you're like me and inadvertently set a spoon covered with hot pink paint on your kitchen counter, you will have a pink stain to bleach off later.  Don't be like me - set the spoons on a plate or paper towel.
*I've read that you can use Kool-aid to color and scent the paint, but I haven't tried it yet.  It seems like the colors would be a bit more vibrant but equally,  if not more, staining.