About a year ago I was inspired by a glorious picture of colorfully painted rocks in a garden. It got me thinking about how fun it would be to have a multitude of colorful rocks in my own garden painted by my granddaughters.
I had already made an outdoor tic-tac-toe game for my granddaughter and nephews. It became a huge hit with the kids. My granddaughter, who was just three at the time, actually loved hiding and finding the ladybugs and bumblebees in the garden each time she visited.
My nephews, who are older, enjoyed playing tic-tac-toe with them.
Searching for rocks and painting them has become a favorite activity for my granddaughter and me. We go rock hunting and paint a rock or two every time she visits for and overnight.
Some of the rocks stay with me and some go home with her to her own garden. She loves the ladybugs and bumblebees from the tic-tac-toe game so much that she frequently wants to paint more of them herself. She also likes to paint rocks for her mom and dad.
What started as a simple, fun activity has turned into a "thing" with us. It makes this grandma very happy. We are building memories together. Our rock hunting time together is fun and she now talks about her rock collection.
Our rock painting sessions are fun, too.
Here are my suggestions for fun, successful rock painting sessions with toddlers:
1. Plan ahead. Gather the materials you will use in advance.
2. Keep it simple. Use no more than three colors of acrylic paint at a time. Use a different paintbrush for each color.
3. Manage the mess. Cover your painting surface with paper. I like to save and use the large sheets of newsprint I get with my TJMaxx or HomeGoods purchases.
Use a smock to cover your grandchild's clothing.
Use paper plates for the paints.
Buy cheap paintbrushes that can be tossed out, if necessary. Check your local dollar store
4. Manage time. Toddler attention spans are short. Keep the painting sessions short.
5. Encourage creativity. Don't try to control the outcome. Just let your toddler paint and have fun.
"Repetition" is the word to remember if you are a grandma wanting to build lasting memories with your grandchildren. Choose activities to do over and over again that can become your thing to do with grandchildren.
Activities like rock painting are fabulous because:
-you can do them together,
-they are not age-dependent
-your grandchild has a physical object to help remember the activity.
In my case, I'm hoping to have a large collection of colorful rocks in my garden that we can admire together for a very long time.
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