It looks like summer may finally be here and the weather looks good for the next few days.  The perfect opportunity for little ones to get creative outside (leaving your house intact!).  I love the idea of painting with coloured ice-cubes and have done this activity quite a few times in Art Explorers Mini Classes.  The only problem with this as an outdoor activity is that it requires paper (for the colours to show) and this can sometimes be annoying if there is a breeze which results in sheets flying off all over the garden.  As a solution to this, I have come across a great idea to make frozen chalk paint instead.  This means that the colours are chalky and opaque and can therefore be used on pavements and walls and still show up nicely.  Children can use them to draw with, carry our colour mixing experiments, use them to make patterns and ‘sculptures’ and even look at how long they take to melt for a bit of a science and maths twist.  You can get some great silicon ice-cube trays now in a huge variety of shapes so the sky’s the limit.

You need:

Water and Cornflour (50:50) and plenty of food colouring. The more colours the better!

Method:

Mix it up and pour into ice-cube trays.  Freeze and pop out.  It’s that easy!

It may look messy but don’t worry, a bit of rain (or a hosepipe) and your patio will be back to normal!