As I mentioned previously, we had a camping week at the preschool earlier this month. The kiddos had a blast, as did Mary Poppins and I. One simple craft we did during the week involved making pet rocks! I’d love to share the preschoolers’ take on making pet rocks below.
Supplies
- Rocks of varying sizes
- Googly eyes
- Paint
- Paintbrushes
- Permanent markers
Directions
1. To begin with, gather up the rocks. These can be rocks found on a nature walk, on a camping trip, from the backyard, or even store-bought rocks. Make sure the rocks are cleaned of dirt and debris before moving to the next step.
2. Choose your paints. We used acrylic paints leftover from our Mother’s Day fingerprint flowerpots. Tempera paint works, too, but doesn’t give you the same color saturation. Set out the paintbrushes with the paints.
3. We had each child’s rock on disposable plates. This worked out well for containing some of the mess and moving the wet rocks when the kiddos were done.
4. Let the children have fun painting! Some of my students really, really got into this part of the activity! 🙂 When they’re done painting, let the pet rocks dry.
5. Once they’re dry, set out googly eyes. Mary Poppins and I tend to have a stash of googly eyes of different sizes and colors! Let the children add the googly eyes they want.
6. If they’re interested, they can use permanent markers to a nose and a mouth. We had a few who did this, but most opted for painted rocks with fun eyes!
7. Let the kiddos play with their “pets” once everything’s dry! The students had a good time with this before the rocks went home. They were especially amused by the antics of Bob, my pet rock. 🙂
Some ways to extend the pet rock play . . .
- Add the pet rocks to a fun sensory bin. Perhaps smaller rocks or plain rocks. They’d be great in any environment really.
- Play a game of “pet rock hide-and-seek”. Take them outside, hide the rocks, then let the children run around and find their rocks.
- Use the pet rocks as place markers for board games (like “Chutes and Ladders”).
- Make a play set for the play rocks. I LOVE what Childhood Beckons did in their post “Art and Play: The Nature Way – Rocks”!
Shared at Mom’s Library, We Made That, Kids Co-Op
Ashley says
May 29, 2013 at 4:13 pmCute pet rocks! My kids like decorating rocks too, and I haven’t even brought out the googly eyes yet! Thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library!
MaryC says
May 29, 2013 at 5:13 pmThere’s just something fun about painting and playing with rocks. Yes, the googly eyes add even more fun and cuteness to this! I’m still so amused by the colored eyes with eyelashes.
Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest says
May 29, 2013 at 8:53 pmAw, so fun and cute!
MaryC says
May 30, 2013 at 10:34 amThanks, Ann. 🙂 I think so too, but I’m rather biased.
Amy mayen says
May 30, 2013 at 9:05 amPet rocks are awesome! I forgot about pet rocks! Hide & seek with pet rocks = genius!
MaryC says
May 30, 2013 at 10:35 amThanks so much, Amy!! Sometimes those “old school” crafts are the best, aren’t they?? 🙂
rebecca at thisfineday says
May 30, 2013 at 6:30 pmWhat a fun idea! We have a few camping trips (one a group camp trip with preschool) and this would be a super fun activity! Thanks for the post.
MaryC says
May 30, 2013 at 9:19 pmThanks so much, Rebecca! 🙂 I think it would be so much fun to link with an actual camping trip! Let me know if you make any pet rocks this summer!
Eric VanRaepenbusch says
May 30, 2013 at 8:40 pmI love your pet rocks. I am honestly a sucker for any activity that utlilzes googily eyes! It was really a great idea to have a theme! I pinned this!
MaryC says
May 30, 2013 at 9:20 pmI am such a sucker for googly eyes too! I think it would be fun to randomly put them on things around town. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by Eric!
Melinda@LookWhatMomFound...andDadtoo says
May 31, 2013 at 10:11 amthis is something we do to waste lots of time. it’s great for rainy days
MaryC says
May 31, 2013 at 10:27 amYes, I think it would be a lot of fun for rainy days at my place too! 🙂 We always seem to have random rocks that just appear here at home.
Stephanie@Twodaloo says
June 1, 2013 at 10:14 amMy son is sitting on my lap right now saying “Do that! Do that!” I think pet rocks are in our future 😉
MaryC says
June 3, 2013 at 9:17 pmHahahaha! Stephanie, I love it! 🙂 I have to be careful of letting my son check out what I’m doing sometimes. He likes to make me lists of what he wants to try “from the computer”. Let me know how your pet rocks go!
jen@Plainvanillamom says
June 1, 2013 at 10:42 amThese are just too cute! Pinning and sharing on facebook 😉
MaryC says
June 3, 2013 at 9:17 pmAww, thanks so much Jen! 🙂 I appreciate the pin, the share, and the kind words! 🙂
iGameMom says
June 4, 2013 at 11:16 pmLove these rocks. I will be featuring this on mom’s library on iGameMom. http://wp.me/p2t50R-1B9 it will be live around 12 mid-night.
MaryC says
June 5, 2013 at 10:48 pmWow, thank you! 🙂 I’m so excited to be included!
Jaimi says
August 7, 2013 at 12:53 pmOh my goodness! We have a big canister of saved rocks, and I just bought some googly eyes. I think I know what I am doing with my kids this afternoon! Thanks for this inspiration.
Mary Catherine says
August 11, 2013 at 8:54 pmWonderful!! Let me know how your pet rocks turn out! We have fun painting rocks and using them for so much play and learning. 🙂 Thanks for popping by!!