Tuesday, June 28, 2011

sidewalk fireworks...

with the beautiful weather we've been having the past couple of days, i just couldn't pass up an opportunity to be outside...

after a nice nap for all, we gathered some supplies, and headed to the backyard for some fireworks...


sidewalk chalk paint fireworks!

i recently tried making some sidewalk chalk paint after seeing the recipes on a couple of sites... check them out on ohdeedoh and kiddio... and fell in love!  with just the right mixture, it's such a neat activity to do outside... vibrant, messy, easy to clean up, and oh, so satisfying to paint with (i think more for me than leo).

with all the talk of fireworks coming up, we decided to mix some up again, and combine it with an activity i used to do in the classroom each year (in the classroom, we'd use regular paint, and do it on paper instead of on the sidewalk).

here's what you need...

  • corn starch
  • water
  • liquid food coloring
  • old socks
  • bowls
  • something to fill the socks with like rice, beans, gravel 
  • a spoon
start by making the paint...

 
add equal parts of water to cornstarch... and then add a little extra water.  all the recipes have called for equal parts when using it to paint with, but for this activity, it needs to be a little extra watery for the splash effect.  we used two tablespoons of cornstarch and added roughly three tablespoons of water. 


mix it up until all the cornstarch is dissolved...



add about two drops of food coloring to each bowl and mix it up...
 


your paint is ready!

then, grab the old socks, and fill them with a few scoops of filling.  i often struggle with using food products in projects, so i decided to use some extra fish gravel we had, which could just be washed off and reused when we were finished. 


(of course, ask the fish first if it's okay).


you can use your hands... a spoon... whatever you want... 
once you've got a good ball of filling at the bottom, tie off the top of the socks.

then grab all your supplies and head to your nearest sidewalk...

climb up onto a sturdy chair or step stool (with supervision, of course)...


dip a sock into some paint...

 

hold it up nice and high, and let it go!  when it hits the ground, it should make a nice SPLAT!, and create some great looking sidewalk fireworks!  (leo gave his a little spin before the drop... which made some cool drips and smaller fireworks). 


repeat, repeat, and repeat for more!


after awhile, we started using the spoon, as well.  and then, just poured the rest of the paint on the sidewalk :)

this activity is full of great skills...
  • fine motor skills... filling the socks, mixing the paint
  • gross motor skills... climbing up and down the chair or step stool (you can even work on two-footed jumps off the stool)
  • color identification
  • sensory exposure... exploring the rice or gravel, the cornstarch/water mixture, even playing with the paint once it dries

when we were finished, we still had so much more to do.  i love including leo in the cleaning process, especially when it doesn't even seem like cleaning.


we hosed down the side walk...


we dumped all the rocks into the bowls (and carefully picked out all the ones that were stuck!)...


rinsed them off...


and rinsed out the socks.

at the end of the day, we had a nice little patch of fireworks, and everything all cleaned up.  except for our soggy pant legs :)

enjoy your fireworks!!!

sharing over at...

I Can Teach My Child

5 comments:

  1. ooooh... interesting! i've never done fizzy sidewalk paint before! we'll have to give that a try!

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  2. Hmmm, I'm planning to go to a friends tomorrow to do fizzy sidewalk paint, where you add baking soda to the paint and then spray it with vinegar. This might be a fun twist for the boys . . .

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  3. We did this today, Hebba, and it was so much fun!! Added a little too much cornstarch at the end when the kids decided to paint with brushes on the sidewalk and it turned to a sort of "gakky" thing...and can you believe it, I've never made gak! (What kind of former Launcher am I??? I'll tell you...the kind that relied on you crafty teachers to make the magic happen!). Anyway, I googled it and I need Borax and glue it seems....where to get Borax? Or do you have a different idea...a better recipe, I should say. As you are the queen of crafty originality. Anyway...the idea was superb...we are planning on doing the ball maze as soon as I can get my kids to use up enough toilet paper rolls...(Poop! kids...Poop!) Oh my gosh, feel ever so free to "forget" to post this horrifying comment. It is late and I am all out of steam for some unknown reason...oh goodness...here for a second I thought tomorrow would be Saturday and I could sleep in until 10 and then go to the spa like I usually do on my Saturdays...wait! Was I? Oh, I must've fallen asleep and dreamt Saturdays were "my day". Because obviously 3 other people have taken my day and the 6 other days right along with it. Every week. But I love them! And I love gak! And I love sidewalk fireworks!! And I love the picture of Leo asking the fish if he can borrow some of its gravel. And I can't wait for him to experience the joys of having siblings who all want to play the same game in very different ways on Sept something. Ok....guess I could've fb'd you instead, but...I'm here...so.....ha ha!! Look out below! The "word verification" is 'nagge'. How utterly appropriate :)

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  4. Thanks for the information about the fireworks for sale

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