Today is Earth Day! V came home from preschool this week excited to tell us things that we can do to celebrate Earth Day: help pick up garbage in our community and conserve water and power were the two items on her list. We devoted some time to both of these things, and hope you had the chance to get out with your kids and pitch in, too!
Earth Day Canada, a national charity organization, “encourages people of all ages to get outside and interact with nature, in turn fostering an intrinsically motivated, enduring commitment to stewardship and conservation.” Today we are sharing a simple interactive activity that can be done any day of the year and is loads of outdoor fun for the little ones!
When my sister and I were younger, we were quite the budding entrepreneurs. We spent our summers with our grandparents and we used to paint rocks and sticks from the willow tree in front of their house. Deciding that we were rather skilled at our craft, we slowly began to escalate our art activity. First we visited all the neighbours (“aunts” and “uncles”) who graciously bought our painted products (at a premium, nonetheless). This support only spurred us on to desire bigger and better things for our rock business.
One day a family friends’ daughter came over to play. Being the long weekend, and the conveniently close location of my grandparents’ home to a highway, my sister and I decided that we should try and catch the eyes of passing travelers who would be in dire need of some hand painted rocks. (I know, I can’t believe I’m even typing this).
We sent our new friend to hold a sign on the side of the highway that read “Hand Painted Rocks for Sale, Turn Here” while my sister and I set up a table back in front of the house, waiting to roll in the big bucks. I cringe just thinking about this story. Thankfully, of course, nothing bad happened. Imagine my grandfather’s surprise anger when he discovered what we’d been up to. Needless to say, we didn’t make a million selling highly sought after original art products, and we were in deep, deep trouble.
If you’re still with me, don’t worry, I have a point. Knowing how much I loved painting rocks when I was a kid, I knew my girls would enjoy this activity, too.
Kindness Rocks
Today we painted blue and green rocks to leave at parks around town while we were out cleaning up. Vienna was so excited about the idea of someone else finding them! This activity was a total hit with both of our girls, and parents rejoice: all you need are rocks and paint! You can simply paint the rocks or you can write kind messages on them too.
What You Need
- Rocks
- Non-toxic paints (Happy to discover that all Crayola products are non-toxic!)
- Paint Brushes
- No really, that’s it!
The girls and their cousin had so much fun exploring the nature trail and leaving their rocks out for someone to find. I plan to recycle this idea all summer long; it was so simple and kept the kids busy all afternoon. For more fun spring inspiration, check out our lady bug snacks!
Happy Earth Day! xo
Oh that’s nice, we don’t do anything like that in my country…as far as I know 😀
It’s a great thing to be involved in, especially for the kids!
I love this idea!! I totally want to do this 🙂
Thanks Jenna! So simple and lots of fun, I hope you try it!
Too cute! Looks like the perfect Earth Day project for your little ones!
Thanks Kate! It was so much fun!
Oh, this is such an incredibly sweet idea! Definitely need to do with my little dude 🙂
It’s so simple, and so fun! I hope he loves it!
What a wonderful idea! They don’t do things like that around here.
This looks like a great outside craft. My girls would love this too.
Such a nice, crafty idea for the summer. Make earth pretty right?
Yes! The girls are loving checking to see if their painted rocks are still out where they left them. I’m sure by the end of summer there will be piles of them, lol!
This is so sweet! People paint rocks in our town and leave them in random places downtown and around the park! It’s so when kids find them and get excited!
It’s such a simple idea and is so much fun for the kids! Thanks for sharing!
I just painted rocks with my kiddos at school yesterday. But this is taking it a few steps further. Love the idea of kindness rocks!! I’ll be keeping this activity in my back pocket. Thanks Raina
I love the idea of kindness rocks. What a fabulous idea and your right it would be a perfect activity for Summer.
What a cool idea! My little brothers will love this
This is an awesome craft idea. This is perfect for spring. I am definitely going to give this a try.
Yay Holly! Hope you guys enjoy it!
What a fun way to celebrate earth day!!
Such a cute and fun way to teach children about Earth Day. I am sure it will be memorable for them.
What a gorgeous and creative way to celebrate Earth Day! I’m sure my son would love this!
This is such a fun thing to do with your little ones, and so perfect for Earth Day! Thanks for sharing this great idea, my kids would love it!
Thanks for your comment Justine! The kids loved it and want to paint rocks allll the time now!
We used to paint the rocks too. Although I don’t remember having lots of fun. Perhaps I should give it a try again, now that I’m older.
Veronika
https://brunettefromwallstreet.com
Hahaha omg so scary thinking about what could have happened with your rock biz! Haha!! Your girls are so precious 🙂
LOL- the things kids do! Thanks so much for reading and stopping by!
What a cute idea! It seems like painted rocks are popping up everywhere.
Thank you! It’s such a fun activity!