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Activity for 6 year olds
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Rock painting is a little scary when you think of the special acrylic markers you need, trying to find the perfect size rock with the perfect surface area, etc. But if you are doing this for fun or for the sake of learning, then the only things you will need for this activity are rocks from your back yard and crayons. If you want to get the special markers you can get them here, and if you want rocks that are ready to be made into art you can buy them in here.
Just a little warning: If you will be using the acrylic markers, I recommend keeping a very close supervision of your children since this markers can stain. And if you are using crayons, supervision is encouraged even though it is easy to remove crayon stains, but young children tend to explore different places to store them (nose, mouth, ears...).
To begin, decide what you want your designs to be inspired on, like a theme or a specific topic if you are learning about one. I found this cute idea in Pinterest about making saint-rocks like St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Francis of Assisi, etc. In my case, I was doing this with my toddler, so I decided to go with beautiful nature things: we drew a heart, the sky with a moon, a fish, and a smiley face.
You can also just let them come up with whatever they want to paint on them. Remember this activity is all about letting the imagination and creativity unravel, while connecting with nature.
You can make these for a special occasion or feast like a party favor or decoration gift set. It is also common to paint rocks to hide for other people to find and brighten their day. Kids will further develop their hand-eye coordination, creative thinking, respect for manual labor, they will feel a sense of pride in their work, promote a deeper connection with nature, among other things.
I recommend making a whole "lesson" out of this activity. First, find the materials. Then, request from your kids to open their ears and listen to the instructions (they can be as general or as specific as you want). Next, get creative and let your inner artist go crazy with different designs. After that, once the project is finishes, tidy up the materials and clean any messes. Finally, share your work and learning (make this like a show and tell to promote oral skills as well).
Some ideas for theme-inspired rocks are:
- Plants
- Animals
- Dinosaurs
- Jewels
- Family
- Saints
- Abstract designs
- Pop Art
- Instruments
- Food
- Nature
- Bible Verses
- ABC
- Numbers
- Emotions
What are you waiting for? This is a very simple and cool activity for any type of weather and unit studies you are learning with your children.
If you have more ideas, please comment below so we can all get inspired. And remember, this doesn't have to be a one-time activity! Since it pairs well with all sorts of topics, you can make it a recurrent craft and the results will always be different.
I hope you feel excited to do this project and enjoy it as much as I did.
Thank you for reading and God Bless.
Maria Ignacia