Hide and Seek Rocks Rock! | Welcome To Nana's

Hide and Seek Rocks

So the grands have enjoyed painting and hiding rocks as little fun messages for others. The main purpose of this activity is to bless others with a bit of encouragement. That’s the reason that Hide and Seek Rocks Rock!

Pay it forward

What is it about doing something kind for others anonymously? It makes me feel almost giddy inside just imagining how it may boost someone’s day. It certainly makes MY day. What an amazing thing to encourage in the grands! To be kind and generous, to pay it forward.

The positive returns of giving

I’ve been told many times that the best way to pick up my spirits is to help someone else. I’ve found that to be true. This is an important thing for the grands to experience. There are so many ways to help others. Here is one small way.

Coronavirus limitation note...

Note: You can get creative with Hide and Seek Rocks even while you stay socially distanced! Please see the note at the bottom of this post about suggested Coronavirus limitations for hiding rocks for the time being. Thanks.

Simple and fun project

This is such a simple, fast and fun activity. Actually, it was an impromptu project when the grands came to visit. We were going to go to the park in another town to picnic and play and had a bit of time earlier in the day. I had the rocks from another craft activity and the craft paints and brushes are always on hand. So, boom, it happened.

Cover up the table and clothes!

Be sure to cover the table with newspaper. I promise there will be paint that goes astray! I also recommend using paint aprons or old t-shirts over clothing. Those rocks tumble out of little hands and easily land in their laps! I keep a few old t-shirts with the paint supplies.

Children, choose your rocks

Let the little artists select several rocks. If you travel and find a smooth oval rock here and there, bring it home for an activity such as this. They work the best. I purchased a bag of smooth decorative rocks to use and they worked fine, but they are smaller. You can see both types in the pictures.

Paint and brushes

The acrylic craft paints work well to paint on Hide and Seek Rocks. Water based paints are a must and they are so reasonably priced. I purchased a set of brushes from the craft store that have a little better point than the old fat brushes from the boxed set of watercolors! They also don’t cost much and can often be found on sale for half price at the craft store. A pointed brush helps keep down frustration when painting little eyes and spots on ladybugs! J

Shake the paint up well before using as it tends to separate out some during storage. Squirt a bit of paint on paper or foam plates and let the imaginations go wild! (When I say a bit of paint, I mean a bit of paint, a dime sized spot or smaller. A little bit goes a long ways).

Imagination knows no limits

I’m always so surprised and delighted at what the grands think to do on these open ended craft projects. Our rocks became little bugs, people, messages and rainbows!

A fun message

We let them sit and dry and then on some of them wrote little messages on the back. You can do this in paint or with a permanent marker. Messages like: Smile! Have a great day! You are special! The kids came up with other messages of their own. We didn’t put our names on the rocks, just words of encouragement.

It is a good idea to seal the rocks with a clear spray sealer. The painting will stay on much longer that way.

Hide your Hide and Seek Rocks

Later in the day the picnic had to wait until the rocks were hidden! It was as much excitement as an Easter egg hunt except the grands were hiding the eggs. They were especially excited as a couple other children picked up the rocks while we ate our picnic.

Too. Much. Fun.

Be sure to post a picture of your Hide and Seek Rocks.

Facebook options- they Rock!

Almost every town has a Facebook page entitled ____ Rocks! (insert your town/city name). This allows people to put up pictures of rocks they have hidden or rocks that they have found in their city. It is a fun way of interacting with people from your community. Of course, good judgement must be used in this area, but perhaps the adults can post a picture or watch for pictures of the rocks you hid!

It is possible to write a note on the back of the rock encouraging the finder to say where and when they found the rock. Then they re-hide it again for others to find and post about. What fun!! The note on the back of the rock should say something like, “Find us on Facebook at (your town) Rocks. Post a photo and then re-hide me!” You never know where they may show up.

It is important to remember that even though I think that Hide and Seek Rocks Rock, there are places that they should not be hidden. National parks and hospitals have asked that people not hide rocks. That is understandable.

NOTE: Coronavirus limitation

When I planned this post last fall and placed it on my blog calendar, who could have imagined that we would be in a social distancing and quarantine mode now? It is not a good time to be handling decorated rocks that you find or encouraging others to handle your Hide and Seek Rocks. Sigh.

SO, my recommendation is to have fun making the Hide and Seek Rocks Rock activity and either:

Save them until a later date when you can set them out
Give them as a gift to your own family
OR- Place them around your house in your flower pots or flower beds for your own enjoyment!

Other craft projects that ROCK

Remember the garden labels that we did on rocks? It’s a fun time to pull that activity up too if you are planting a garden and needing to mark the rows with the type of seed planted! Here is the link to 3 DIY Garden Labels.

When I was young another thing I oved to do with rocks was to glue them together into something like a turtle and then paint them. Welcome to Nanas did a post on that which you may find fun! Click here for the post at Painting the Rocks in their Pockets.