This is the best recipe for sidewalk puffy paint, and the one we use at our CEFA Early Learning schools. It is easy to make and wash off the driveway, has the perfect consistency and is great for detailed paintings.

Once made, it provides a great and different outdoor art activity for your child.

Best Ages for This Activity

1 to 5 years (with supervision, as always)

How to Make It

You Will Need

  • 3 cups of water
  • 3 cups of flour
  • 6 to 8 cups of shaving cream
  • Food colouring in any colours you want (you could start with yellow, blue and red)
  • 6 squirt bottles (or as many as the colours you will make)
  • 6 sandwich bags

Let’s Get Started!

  • Invite your child to make sidewalk paint with you
  • To make blue and green fluffy paint:
    • Stir together 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water until smooth
    • Add 15 drops of blue food coloring and stir to combine (remember that the colors will be fainter once all the ingredients are added)
    • Fold in 2 cups of shaving cream and stir until it is even. Mix gently to keep your paint fluffy
    • Transfer half the mixture into a sandwich bag, clip the end of the bag and squirt the mixture into one of the squirt bottles.
    • Add yellow food coloring to the rest of the blue mixture left in the bowl until you obtain the shade of green that you like. If you notice the paint going flat, add a little more shaving cream and fold it into the mixture.
    • Pour this new mixture into a new sandwich bag, clip the end and squeeze into a new squirt bottle.
    • Now you have blue and green fluffy paint.
  • To make red and purple fluffy paint:
    • Stir together 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water until smooth
    • Add 15 drops of red food coloring and stir to combine
    • Fold in 2 cups of shaving cream and stir until it is even. Mix gently to keep your paint fluffy
    • Transfer half the mixture into a sandwich bag, clip the end of the bag and squirt the mixture into one of the squirt bottles.
    • Add blue food coloring to the rest of the red mixture left in the bowl until you obtain the shade of purple that you like. If you notice the paint going flat, add a little more shaving cream and fold it into the mixture.
    • Pour this new mixture into a new sandwich bag, clip the end and squeeze into a new squirt bottle.
    • Now you have red and purple fluffy paint.
  • To make yellow and orange fluffy paint:
    • Stir together 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water until smooth
    • Add 15 drops of yellow food coloring and stir to combine
    • Fold in 2 cups of shaving cream and stir until it is even. Mix gently to keep your paint fluffy
    • Transfer half the mixture into a sandwich bag, clip the end of the bag and squirt the mixture into one of the squirt bottles.
    • Add red food coloring to the rest of the yellow mixture left in the bowl until you obtain the shade of orange that you like. If you notice the paint going flat, add a little more shaving cream and fold it into the mixture.
    • Pour this new mixture into a new sandwich bag, clip the end and squeeze into a new squirt bottle.
    • Now you have yellow and orange fluffy paint.

This will give you six beautiful colors of paint. You can create as many colors as you like with your child, experimenting with different shades and intensities of food coloring. Have fun!

Learning Opportunities

Making the paint is a great S.T.E.M. activity, teaching your child science and math. Ensure that your child does most of the work, such as measuring, mixing, pouring, and everything in between, so they really learn those S.T.E.M. concepts hands-on. Use as much math vocabulary as you can, such as:

  • How much, how little
  • Measurements words
  • Intensity
  • Counting (drops, for instance)
  • Colors

Once the paint is done, it is a nice visual arts and outdoor activity for your child. The movements required for using the squirt bottles will also work with your child’s fine motor skills, a precursor to writing.

As I like to teach our CEFA Early Learning school Teachers, the purpose of visual arts is to invite your child to express themselves, to bring the inside out. Your child will discover themselves, the beauty they are capable of expressing through art and that is an amazing thing to witness – enjoy every moment of it!

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