Rock on..
Stones and rocks by the beach offer many activities for kids. I’m sure if you take a trip to the beach you will soon discover kids are naturally drawn to rocks. Whether it is to master the art of skipping rocks or creating rock gardens. One my daughter’s favorite things to do is to collect them. She is always finding some rock worth having. Sometimes, we will display them in a shadow box or Mason jar when we come home.
In our outdoor playgroup we had fun with rocks by the beach last spring and summer. One of our favorite things to do is to make rock gardens and rock paintings.
How to play and create a rock garden
This is both imagine play and creating different shapes. Find an area with different shapes of rocks. Encourage your kids to think about what they would like to make. My daughter starts with making a little rock fence before she builds the house. For flowers she uses some dandelions or some leafs as trees and then adds a refrigerator in the house and a fire. A spiral is also an easy way create a pattern of rocks. As you understand, it is not the product that is the interesting part of this exercise, but the process.You will be amazed how creative your children can be.
Paint rocks
Bring acrylic paint, brushes, rolls of paper and aprons to your outing. Get the kids to collect their favorite rocks and put them on the paper and let the kids decorate them. When you come home you can put your rock art in the garden.
If you would like a little more fancy version of stone art, you can do as Marghanita at Little Humbugs does with wax crayons.
