At some point during the winter, when we were busy with snow paint, someone on social media suggested I try homemade chalk paint in the summer. And I do not forget awesome suggestions like that, but I did forgot who told me. So last week, we made some liquid chalk paint.

Equal parts cornstarch and water, plus some food coloring. Could not be easier. I’d found a recipe from Learn~Play~Imagine that also adds equal parts baking soda to make it “erupting paint.” This basically mean if you fill a spray bottle with vinegar and spritz the dried paint, it will fizz.

I made a 6 cup batch of erupting paint, and it filled 4 squeeze bottles about halfway; I’m definitely stocking up on cornstarch to have on hand. H wasn’t terribly interested in the fizzing part, which was a mild reaction. I thought it was neat, but I’ll stick to cornstarch next time.

I used a funnel to fill bottles with the white “paint” mixture, and then I added a few drops of food coloring to each and shook to mix up.

I just stuck her in an oversize tee that could get messy and let her decorate the backyard.

Here’s what I learned from making the paint: Add the cornstarch to the water, not the other way around. My cornstarch kept turning to clay at the bottom of the bowl, which could be broken up if you squished it, but next time I’ll whisk the cornstarch into the water slowly to see if that helps. I may also add more water. Even after I transferred the paint to squeeze bottles, the bottom maybe half inch solidified into clay. I could not shake all of the clumps loose.

This was a good-on-a-hot-day project because of the cleanup. When the paint was dry I hosed off the patio (no staining, it swept right away). And H just ran through the hose and chased the disappearing paint around the yard. She tried adding the last drips of paint to wet spots to see what would happen. And it got all of the paint mess off of her before we went back in the house. Easy cleanup for everyone, and it was a nice way to cool down. We’re definitely trying this again.