A Recipe for Sidewalk Chalk Paint with Beet Juice

1/2 cup corn starch

1/2 cup beet juice

beet juice being added to corn starch

mixing corn starch and beet juice

painting the driveway

it goes on dark

as it dries it turns lighter pink

We have made our own sidewalk chalk paint before, but last week I had the idea to save the bright fuchsia colored water from boiling beets to use instead of adding food coloring. It came out great, it went on very dark but as it dried it changed to the chalky kind of pink you'd expect of sidewalk chalk. We mixed it up in an saved plastic container - old earth balance tubs are great for this - and used cheap brushes we buy at the hardware store. Our paintings brightened up our driveway for most of the week but then washed away nicely when it rained.

Sidewalk Chalk Paint
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup water
5-10 drops food coloring

Put the cornstarch in your container first, then add water - if you add corn starch to the water it is much harder to mix. It is hard to get the corn starch and water to combine, but keep mixing with a spoon and then suddenly it will just come together all at once. It is easy to half this and use 1/4 cup of water and corn starch and this is what we do when we make several colors. To use beet juice, just use the water saved from boiling beets and omit the food coloring. Go make art with your kids in the driveway, and have fun!