What is it about kids and rocks? Here’s a few ideas for fun things to do with rocks beside hurl them at one another.
Kids can paint words on rocks with acrylic paint. Words like “dream” “believe” or “peace” are fun. Kids will also like to paint their own names on rocks. It’s also fun to paint a few clues for a scavenger hunt on rocks. For a fun surprise in a garden, it’s fun to paint a few happy faces on flat rock surfaces. Paint Markers work great, too.
When they were little, my boys also liked to make treasure rocks. They would take a sparkly crayon and color a rock. This worked better on white rocks and rocks with a little texture to catch the crayon. The results were amazing. I still have a chunk of wax colored turquoise and one of gold sitting in my kitchen window along with other treasures they have brought me.
Another fun thing to do is to build with rocks. Rock walls are a challenge, but can defend a sand castle. And also think of making a tall stack. Traditionally, a vertical pile of flat rocks is called a cairn. Sometimes a cairn marks a special place, sometimes it is for direction, and sometimes it marks the summit of a mountain peak. Some of the hikes we’ve been on have a cairn at the top for each hiker to add a stone. It’s just a way of saying “I’ve been here”. The cairns that mark a trails direction are sometimes called “ducks” because the top stone will be larger and have a point for signaling direction. These man-made formations sometimes look a little like a bird. Kids can make small cairns and ducks and see if others can follow their directions across the yard or playground. They also like to spot “ducks” on trails.
And then of course there is skipping, and collecting…
More on Rocks:
Fun Activity: Painted Rocks
A New Home For Your Rock Collection