Sidewalk Paint Rockets: A fun backyard science activity!

A science experiment, crowd pleaser, and boredom buster all in one! These sidewalk paint rockets splatter colorful bursts of chalk paint on the ground and clean up with water! This post contains an affiliate link.

We made an entire rainbow of them and had fun setting them off and decorating the sidewalk in the backyard. The kids had friends over and everyone got involved with the mess!

We’ve made sidewalk paint out of corn starch, water, and food coloring many times. Did you know that if you add an antacid tablet and capture it in a small container that the gasses will build up and explode? I saw this idea in a kids magazine years ago and it was so easy!

Here’s how to do it!

Sidewalk Paint Rockets

 

 

Supplies:

antacid tablets

cornstarch

film canisters

food coloring

water

Add 2 drops of food coloring to each container, followed by 1/2 tsp. cornstarch.

Fill with water until canister is 1/3 full. Stir.

Break an antacid tablet into 3 or 4 smaller pieces. You will need one full tablet (broken into smaller pieces) per canister.

 

And now for the fun part!

 

Place the canister on the ground with plenty of clearance space. QUICKLY add the antacid tablet pieces, snap the lid onto the canister, turn it over so that the lid is against the ground, and RUN!

The canister will shoot high into the air, leaving behind a colorful starburst behind! You can’t stop at just one rocket. Keep setting them off until your sidewalk looks like it has been beautifully tie-dyed!

Hose down the sidewalk with water when you are ready to clean up.

Here are 5 more fun antacid tablet science experiments to try!

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