I never realized how easy it is to make your own paint! I had seen this firework art project many times on Pinterest, but didn’t want to spend money on paint. After some quick searching online this morning, we were able to throw together a fun activity with things around the house. The kids had a great, messy time (with no need to spend money).
I started by mixing up some paint using this recipe (no dish soap). All that you need is flour, corn starch, salt, and water. It seemed like the mixture was going to be too thick or thin at different points, but it came out perfect. I almost doubled the recipe, but thankfully did not. It makes a good amount. We added red and blue food coloring for our fireworks.
The next step was to gather up a few toilet paper rolls (I knew there was a reason that we were saving them). You want to make slices into one end of the tube and fold them up to make the firework “stamp.” On Pinterest, the rolls are kept at their original diameter, but this will create a blank circle in the center. I cut the tubes length-wise, rolled them up tight, and secured with tape.
Time to paint! I’m glad that we did this project outside, the kids made a huge mess. There is a lot of paint leftover, so we are going to try this again tomorrow with a few friends. The paint is supposed to last up to a week in the refrigerator.
Next time, I will definitely be splitting up the paint into different containers so it isn’t as deep. Tornado (my almost three year old) kept dunking the stamp all the way into the paint, so her fireworks are very gloppy. Also, the stamp became so saturated that the slices didn’t stick out anymore. I would recommend working with a thin layer of paint or even having kids apply paint to the stamp with a paintbrush.
This project was yet one more example of how you can save money by taking a few extra steps. We made masterpieces with homemade paint instead of running out to the store. The kids were entertained without expensive toys, television, or a trip somewhere that required us to buy admission tickets. I just love doing these creative activities with my children. Happy Fourth of July!
