Have you ever been on a walk and noticed some adorable critters living in flower beds or along your path? Painting rocks is such a fun way for kids to come up with ideas and turn something as plain as a rock into something fun!
This post is sponsored by Discount School Supplies. I love being able to get all kinds of high quality craft supplies from one place! This paint was so easy to use and the colors are perfect. I love this set of trays too– it helps to keep all the splatters a bit more contained. Right now, you can use the code, ‘Claire10’ and get 10% off your purchase, just in time for back to school!
Related: Heart-Shaped Animals, Ladybug Paper Plate Craft, Paper Plate Bumblebee
Why do Kids Love Painted Rocks?
Painted kids rocks are a perfect kids’ craft because they are low cost and use minimal materials. Kids will have fun looking for the perfect rock to paint too! While paint can be messy, since this is a smaller project you can usually limit the mess by having some wet wipes handy and even by having kiddos put on a smock. It’s a great activity for a wide variety of ages and kids will even be able to work on their fine motor skills! Looking for another fun painting activity? Let kids try to make their own DIY Scratch Art!
Supplies
- Colorations Acrylic Paint– Red, Yellow, White, Black, Purple, Pink
- Paint brushes
- Smooth, clean rocks- river rock or landscaping rocks are great!
- sealant like mod podge(optional)
- Water or wet wipes for cleaning
- Trays (optional, but helpful!)
Tips for Painting Rocks
- When you’re ready to pick our rocks, try to get ones light in color and relatively smooth. I looked for oval shapes that were lighter so that you don’t need as many coats of paint to get full coverage.
- Acrylic paint is best because it won’t wash or rub off as easily.
- Modpodge if you’re wanting to seal your rock and keep it outside/for a long time.
- Wash and dry
- Acrylic paint or paint pens
- Apply 2-3 coats of paint, allow to dry between layers.
- When displaying your rock, make sure to store it someplace animals are less likely to get it and put it in their mouths.
Ladybug Painted Rock Step by Step
Pick out and clean your rock. Paint the rock red and allow time to dry. If necessary, do a second coat.
Begin to add the details by add a black half circle on one edge of the rock. This will be your ladybug’s head. I like to use the smaller size paintbrush for this part.
Add a line down the center of the rock and fill in with dots. Add heart shaped antennas. You can use regular dots but the heart shapes give it a bit more personality!
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Allow the black paint to dry, then add eyes with white paint, then pupils with small black dots.
Use your white paint to add a smiley face to your lady bug.
If desired, spray with mod podge to seal your rock creature.
How to Make a Bumblebee Painted Rock
Clean your rock and allow it to dry, then add 2-3 coats of yellow paint. The yellow paint is a bit lighter so it took a bit more paint to achieve full coverage.
Add black stripes and a ‘face’ once the yellow paint has dried.
Add antennas by painting on small black lines and dots.
The wings are so fun! I did a small, white wing coming from the stripes and just using one coat gave it a transparent look to it which I think is so cool!
Using white paint add eyes and a smiley face.
Butterfly Painted Rock Step by Step
Paint your rock orange and allow to fully dry.
Add a yellow stripe to be the body of the butterfly.
To make the wings, I made the top half of a heart with purple paint on either side of the stripe.
Allow the paint to fully dry. Then, using your smallest paint brush or a paint pen, draw on a face and antennas.
Finally, using a different color or a paint pen, add dots or details to the wings to personalize your butterfly!
Simple Flower Painted Rock
This simple flower painted rock was so fun! Start by painting your rock a solid color and allowing to fully dry.
Paint on a circle in the middle of the rock.
To make your petals, add 5 circles around the center one, making the bottom two slightly larger.
Spray or coat with modpodge once fully dried if wanting to preserve.
I would love to hear about your favorite painted rocks, or tag me on social in any you create! Thanks again to Discount School Supplies for sponsoring this post!