Garden and Pet Rocks

The children and I painted rocks. I enjoyed watching their creativity. My favorites are the lady bugs. The purple one with the black swirled lines was made by first painting the rock all one color, letting it dry, then drawing the lines on with a permanent marker. I put the paints in an egg carton for the children to make it easier for them to keep their colors separate so that wouldn't all run together. We used acrylic paints. We let each layer dry before adding another layer. They don't take very long to dry unless the paint is put on pretty thick. While one rock is drying, you can be working on another rock; so have lots of rocks available. Another thing to point out to the children is not to paint the top and bottom at the same time or the wet side facing the protective paper you've placed over the table will get stuck to the rock. I sprayed a coat of gloss over the rocks after they were dry.

You can do many things with your rocks. I put a couple on my kitchen window sill for a decoration. Some can go in the garden. You can use them for paper weights or bookends if they are big enough. The children can play with the smaller ones, stacking them. You can give them away as gifts. I enjoyed doing this project myself. This is a great project for kids. They can literally spend a whole afternoon doing it.

Do you have any really fun and simple projects that you and your children or grandchildren have done or that you have done yourself that you think my children and I would like to try? Please share. I'm always looking for new ideas.