Who Has Time to Paint Rocks?
I had heard of rock painting awhile ago. I imagined it to be very much like the adult coloring books, except much messier. I mean really, who has time for this? I could see my 8-year-old doing this, as she is a girl after my own heart. She is always looking for a project or craft to do or something to create. But really, adults finding this therapeutic? Ummmm, OK. After seeing many posts on Facebook about it I typed my city name and the word ROCKS into the search bar. Low and behold there was a whole group for my city dedicated to rock painting. People actually did take the time to paint rocks.
When You Cave to Peer Pressure
I showed my daughter my cities rock page and her eyes lit up. We were always finding rocks in her pockets. She had taken a fascination while school was in session to collecting them on the playground and putting them in her backpack. So I got suckered in by her excitement of two of her favorite things, rocks and painting. What can I say, she has my heart. So off went to the craft store to buy rocks and paint. The problem we ran into is that craft stores only carry small rocks, so make sure you visit a rock yard. Or maybe you have some in your own yard you can use that are big enough for smaller kids to paint on. Now it would just be about finding the time to paint. Because, really, who has time for that?
Making Time
My 4-year-old conveniently started Vacation Bible School this week for a few hours, so I promised my daughter that we would paint. We pulled our supplies out, filled plastic cups with water, laid out paper plates and got to work. She didn’t really know what to paint, so I urged her to get out the adult coloring book that I picked up on clearance for inspiration. There were flowers with intricate designs and whimsical style that had simple enough shapes I knew she could copy. I also used
that book to paint my first rock. After we each painted one, we decided to take a look at the shapes of the rocks and see what we could create. She decided that a hot air balloon fit one rocks shape nicely. I opted for an ice cream cone. I always have food on the brain.
So What Do You Do With These Rocks?
Because we used water-soluble paints I bought a clear spray to protect the rocks when they were done drying. You then write your city’s name on the back of the rock using permanent marker. Here comes the interesting thing about rock painting. This is probably my favorite part, because 
of my social networking skills. You go to your cities Facebook page and put up a photo of the rocks you painted and leave a clue as to where you are going to hide them. Once you hide them, you then wait. The point is that someone will find your rocks and either keep them, or rehide them for someone else to find. They are supposed to take a photo of the rock they find and put it on your cities Facebook page to show what they found. 
This Is Much Cheaper Than Therapy
What I found so welcoming while sitting down with my daughter to paint is that this actually was very therapeutic. It was quality time that she and I don’t get much of just the two of us. It was also relaxing. I taught her how to use a toothpick for tiny details. I showed her the magic of a Sharpie marker and how it can make images pop when outlined. I got to see her imagination come to life as she showed me ideas for different rocks we had for our next paint session. I got to create. That is something for me I have been lacking in my personal well-being.
Vacation Bible School is only this week so I won’t be able to do this with her as often as I want to this summer. My four-year old came home while paint was still out and now we have a pizza rock as well as a paint covered shirt, a paint covered chair and paint on my LuLaroe Carly.
But that’s a story for another day.
If you want to learn more about rock painting check out the Kindness Rocks Project.
