Fizzing Sidewalk Paint Recipe for Kids

This Fizzing Sidewalk Paint recipe is by far one of our kids’ most favorite play recipes of all times. This outdoor paint activity works great for kids of all ages and adds a little fizzy to artful science!

Fizzing Sidewalk Paint
Let’s play with fizzing sidewalk paint!

Make Fizzing Sidewalk PAINT

Sidewalk chalk is fun, painting is fun, and making things fizz is also fun! Let’s do all three!

This is a really simple recipe to create sidewalk chalk “paint” out of food coloring, baking soda and cornstarch.  

We have made the standard sidewalk chalk paint before, but this recipe is better – it fizzes when you spray it with vinegar.

Related: Exploding baggies science experiment for kids

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Supplies Needed to Make Fizzing Sidewalk Chalk Paint

Video: How to Make Fizzing Sidewalk Paint

How To Make Awesome Fizzing Sidewalk Paint

Step 1

Mix the dry ingredients and then add water, stirring until it’s not too thick.   I think we used about a cup.    

This paint dries very quickly – but washes off with ease!

I love the brilliant colors.

Fizzing Sidewalk Paint 2
This sidewalk paint is so vibrant and more opaque than I thought it would be.

Step 2

Now for the fun!  

Spray the paint with a bottle of vinegar and watch the fizz appear.

Fizzing Sidewalk Paint 3
You can make a rainbow with this sidewalk paint.

Our Experience with Fizzing Sidewalk Paint

To say this activity was a hit is an understatement.   They are thrilled.  

And clean up was a bucketful breeze.  

Ways to Extend Learning Through Play

Want to add more “learning to this activity?  

Talk about the reaction between acids and base chemicals.   This is a fun way to incorporate chemistry into your preschoolers life (or just enjoy the fizz).

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If you make fizzing sidewalk paint, tell me about it!

Fizzing Sidewalk Paint Recipe for Kids

Fizzing Sidewalk Paint Recipe for Kids

Make this easy fizzing sidewalk paint to make beautiful chalk pictures! This fun sidewalk chalk paint activity is great for kids of all ages and budget-friendly.

Materials

  • A container of baking soda – we used an 8 oz box
  • 1/2 cup of cornstarch
  • Warm (almost hot) Water
  • Food coloring
  • Vinegar

Instructions

  1. Mix the dry ingredients and then add water, stirring until it’s not too thick.  I think we used about a cup.    
  2. Spray the paint with a bottle of vinegar and watch the fizz appear.

More Sidewalk Chalk Paint & Outdoor Fun from Kids Activities Blog

How did your fizzing sidewalk paint turn out? Did the kids have a really good time playing outside?

63 Comments

  1. I love this idea and put it in my favorites to use with my group of kids soon.

  2. Oh my this looks COOL!!! Maybe we can have a go during our Royal Wedding Street Party! That would be lots of fun!

    Thank you for linking up to Kids Get Crafty!

    Maggy

    1. Probably 1/3 of the box then. I used one of those small 3 inch tall boxes.

  3. Lots of fun indeed! We have been mixing concoctions in the garden with most of these ingredients this morning, but no fizzing! Will HAVE to do this 🙂

  4. This is a great idea! We just need the weather to warm up a little out here…

  5. butterfly wishes and wonderland dreams says:

    we love making sidewalk paint!!!

  6. What a great idea! We’ve made volcanoes, bath bombs, sherbert, dancing sultanas and bouncy eggs with this reaction but this one looks like lots of fun too.

  7. What a great way to get kids outdoors and do some fun-filled learning. What a great activity idea.

  8. This is definitely something that Sam would love when he’s a little older. I don’t think that at 25 months he would stand around long enough. 🙂

  9. I LOVE this idea! We will definitely be adding it to our list of fun outdoor activities!

  10. Love this idea! I starred it to hopefully make when we have a nice day!

    Kerri

  11. We did this at our last week of preschool this week. The kids LOVED it. I made up two muffin tins with some of the powder mixture in each cup, put about 5-7 drops of food coloring in each and then added water and let them stir. Two of them loved the stirring and seeing what color would develop. They did it the majority of the time. The other 2 painted and sprayed like crazy. The colors were very vivid. Loved it.

    1. Muffin Tins! Brilliant! I was trying to think of a way to make more colors, without making a TON. Thanks! Glad you and your kids had fun!

  12. I made up the paint yesterday and took it out front. Our little one year old neighbors came and joined in the messy fun. M and M loved the vinegar. Even thought the younger kids didn’t get the fizzing they had a great time painting. THANK YOU!

    1. I am so glad they had fun! My kids are disappointed. We waited too long to paint with the leftovers and the jar spoiled – boo. Looks like we’ll have to make more later 🙂

  13. Thank You for sharing this, what a great experiment & great fun! I cannot wait to try this out 🙂

  14. I did this activity with the kids from my daycare this morning and they had a blast! I’d forgotten all about chemistry class until I came accross your blog! Thanks for the great idea!

    Isa

  15. Thanks so much for this really fun project. In the last week or so, I have seen this posting linked in so many different ways I cannot even count. I tried this fun activity inside with even more bubbles (by adding vinegar). Check it out! cowsgomooandducksgoquack.blogspot.com

    Thanks again for inspiring lots of fun!
    Gianne

  16. We did this at preschool today and our children loved it! Thanks so much for the idea!

  17. We did this at pre school and we have extended the idea to experiment more with bicarb and vinegar. Thanks fir the idea.

  18. Thanks for this great idea! we had fun painting with it. some of ours solidified a bit in the bottom of the cups (didn’t stir enough!) but then we also had fun making the paint into balls – as long as you would handle it, it would be solid – then you stop and it “melts”.

  19. hmmm . . . we tried this today and it didn’t get that fizzy. 🙁 We didn’t put as much baking soda in as called for . . . I guess we need to add more?

    1. Yup! You can’t skimp on it as that is the “base” chemical, the vinegar is the acid. When you combine the two they “fizz”. White vinegar has a higher acid content… and the pool quality of sodium bicarbonate is the strongest form of “baking soda” – good luck making it another time.

  20. We just did this! What a fun activity.
    I linked to your blog on my facebook.

  21. OK, we’ll definitely try it again! It was kind of a last minute project today, so my friend & I just grabbed what we had in the cabinet! The boys still had fun, so it was worth it 🙂

  22. What a fantastic idea! The end result has so much texture, this is definitely one to try! Tweeted this too 🙂

  23. I am definitely going to do this with my kids – got to get all the ingredients together! I’ll let you know what they think of it!

  24. We just did this and the girls loved it. I didn’t use as much baking soda so the reaction was not as intense as it probably would have been, but they still enjoyed it. Next time I will make sure I have enough baking soda to make it the right way. It was still a great activity for a lazy summer morning! Thanks for sharing!!!

  25. we did this today and LOVED it! we’ll definitely be linking people in your direction when we blog about it!

  26. Love this idea. I’ll be pinning it on my board of activities to do with kids. thanks

  27. So cute!

    I ™d love it if you shared this with the Fun Family Crafts audience. FFC is similar to Craftgawker but it only features kid friendly tutorials. Looking forward to seeing what fun crafts you submit!
    http://funfamilycrafts.com

  28. Wow, I’m so used to writing the word “cute” that I said that instead of cool LOL! So cool! haha!

  29. I love this idea! Science, art and a little sensory input for my little guy!

  30. I am really looking forward to doing this with my children on the next warm day or I may have to wait till next Summer.

  31. Thanks for this fun activity! My two and a half year old and I made Easter Eggs on the sidewalk today with this recipe… so fun! I will probably post some pictures of it soon on the blog. I will be sure to link back to your great blog and post!

  32. I saw this on Pinterest this morning and went straight to the kitchen and made some up for my daughter. I just guessed at the amounts for the baking soda and corn starch and because of that we didn’t get a huge amount of fizz, but my daughter didn’t care. (I guessed because I buy a huge bag of baking soda from Costco and I only had about 1/4 cup of corn starch left.)
    Thank you for posting this. It was great.

  33. Thanks what I wonderful creation, I had purchased sponge shapes from the dollar tree and this mixture worked perfect for it looks so neat and my kids really enjoyed spraying to watch there design fizz up!

  34. Won’t the food coloring stain the kids clothes? Not a mom just an aunt trying to do fun things and my nephews party 🙂

  35. Just did this with my 5 and 2 year olds and it was fun. I forgot that I used 1/2 the baking soda, so it was too runny and didn’t fizz all that much, but next time I’ll just make it stronger. They still enjoyed painting and I made up for the somewhat-low-fizz factor by making a ‘volcano’ using my salad dressing mixing bottle (narrow neck) and red and yellow food colouring with LOTS of baking soda. They loved the ‘volcano’. Thanks for the great idea!

  36. what is the shelf life of this stuff? I’m thinking of gifting it for kids of mommy friends for christmas and I want to make sure they will be able to use it!

    Thanks!!

  37. Nice, I’ll also try to make learn my kids about chemistry. It is a good activity but should be done under guidance.

  38. Hi, just love this idea! Could you tell me the measurements for the UK – ie. not sure of ‘container’ of baking soda. Thanks very much! (so great to find a creative mum’s website for the UK so can easily get hold of things suggested!)

  39. Can I make the paint in advance or does it need to be used right away? If so, how long does it last? Thank you!

  40. Can anyone advise on clean up? I’m concerned about the food coloring… Will it stain surfaces like cement driveways, or tile grout? I know that baking soda and vinegar are a classic cleaning combination, so its just the food coloring that worries me… anyone have any experience to share? 🙂

    1. What a fun idea! The downside is that it is something that can’t be cleaned up off the sidewalk, but if you used something fine that didn’t need to be picked up afterward, I bet it would work.

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