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! You can paint masterpieces on your driveway, sidewalk or playground surface. This DIY sidewalk chalk paint is great for home or at school recess or outdoor classroom activity.

Make Fizzing Sidewalk PAINT
Sidewalk chalk is fun, painting is fun, and making things fizz is also fun! Let’s do all three!
Related: Exploding baggies science experiment for kids & The Art of Block Printing for Kids
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.
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Supplies Needed for Fizzing Sidewalk Chalk Paint
- A container of baking soda – we used an 8 oz box
- 1/2 cup of cornstarch
- Warm (almost hot) Water
- Food coloring
- Vinegar
Video: How to Make Fizzing Sidewalk Paint
How To Make Awesome Fizzing Sidewalk Paint
Step 1

Mix the dry ingredients and then add water, stir until the mixture is not too thick. I think we used about a cup water.
Step 2

Using a paintbrushes, foam brushes, sponges, squeeze bottle paint with the DIY chalk paint on your desired surface creating whatever pictures works best. Layer the next color as desired or do some color mixing.

As you paint your sidewalk pictures you will notice that this homemade chalk paint dries very quickly – but washes off with ease!
I love the brilliant colors of this homemade sidewalk paint. Vibrant colors everywhere!
Step 3

Now for the fun! You can put away your paint brush…

Spray the paint with a bottle of vinegar and watch the fizz appear in your desired color chalk paint.
Our Experience with Fizzing Sidewalk Paint

To say this activity was a hit is an understatement. They are thrilled. The prep was surprisingly easy and we made more than one batch.
And clean up was a bucketful breeze. There is a bit of a mess, but it can be washed away easily with the pour of water making it washable paint!
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

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
- Mix the dry ingredients and then add water, stirring until it’s not too thick. I think we used about a cup.
- Spray the paint with a bottle of vinegar and watch the fizz appear.
More Sidewalk Chalk Paint & Outdoor Fun from Kids Activities Blog
- Let’s make homemade sidewalk chalk.
- This sidewalk chalk board game is so much fun to play outside.
- Have you ever made homemade bathtub paint?
- These outdoor games for kids will have everyone breathing fresh air and giggling.
- Let’s make edible paint.
- This chalk paint recipe is so much fun!
- These rock painting ideas are so fun to make and hide for others.
- Outdoor art is way more fun than indoor art!
- Let’s draw a chalk race track for kids.
- Sidewalk chalk art ideas for kids.
- How to make a neighborhood chalk walk.
- Need more homemade paint ideas for kids? We have ’em!
How did your fizzing sidewalk paint turn out? Did the kids have a really good time playing outside?
Thanks so much for the wonderful inspiration for our summer bucket list! I love your idea. I included a link back to your post here: http://mymontessorimoments.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/summer-bucket-list-2011/
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”.
We did this at pre school and we have extended the idea to experiment more with bicarb and vinegar. Thanks fir the idea.
This is such a fun idea – many thanks!
We LOVED this recipe!
http://prairiemother-prairiemother.blogspot.com/2011/05/fizzing-sidewalk-paint-and-foaminator.html?showComment=1308081289907#c766321536740628635
Thanks for sharing!
We did this at preschool today and our children loved it! Thanks so much for the idea!
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
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
Thank You for sharing this, what a great experiment & great fun! I cannot wait to try this out 🙂
How fun. My kiddos would love to do this!