Paint Your Own Pet Rock

Description

I remember when The Pet Rock, a simple rock with googly eyes glued on and nestled in a cardboard box with a bed of straw, became an instant craze in the 70's and many of my friends had them. My parents would not buy one for me, although I remember really wanting one... so I made my own by selecting from my Japanese rock garden outside of our home. I found a very smooth, shiny pebble and glue on two wiggly eyes. I still have it packed in a box somewhere! This activity goes one step further and makes them into cute animals and creatures. See our video below that the girls made to show the steps of how to make your very own!

Materials

Smooth rocks, you can find them at stores selling craft supplies like Wal Mart, Michaels and the Dollar Tree. They are usually located near the glass pebbles. You can also find lots of choices in landscape rocks.
Acrylic Paint (Ceramcoat is great, washes when wet, permanent when dry.)
Paint Brushes
Q-tips are great for making spots.
Various decorations: wiggly eyes, feathers, felt, foam.
Permanent Marker like Sharpie
Craft Glue
Mod Podge or Acrylic Spray to seal the paint

Other Materials

Newspaper to work on
Parchment paper to dry on.
Small cup with water to wash the brushes

Decoration Ideas

Permanent Paint in a Squeeze bottle
Glitter Glue or Paint
Buttons
Sequins.
Wiggly Eyes
Pom Poms
Feathers
Stickers
Washi Tape
Faux Fur
Foam
Yarn
Ribbon
Pipe Cleaners
Permanent Markers
Paint Markers

Steps

Choose a few different sizes and shaped rocks to decorate.
Paint a base color on your rock. Let dry. Repeat a second coat of paint for a more complete and deep, finished look.
Make an animal or a silly creature. Add spots, stripes or other paint details next. Let dry completely before adding the decorative details.
Discuss what shape would make a beak or arm or foot...we kept to basic shapes like ovals, circles, squares and diamonds for beaks to make the pieces. Draw on foam with a pencil and cut out your shapes to glue.
Glue on wiggly eyes, foam, felt, feathers or other items with craft glue. Elmer's Glue may not hold well on a slick item so we recommend a tacky glue.
If you glued items on the back like arms, feet, dry your pet rock on waxed or parchment paper to avoid sticking.
Add a couple coats of Mod Podge or spray with acrylic spray. This will help protect the colors from washing off if you place it outside and give it a nice sheen. If you are using the spray, spray outside for proper ventilation (adult step).

Tips and Suggestions

For decoration ideas for this toddler activity you might have your child select a favorite stuffed animal. One of mine brought her penguin to compare colors.
For fine lines and dots we practiced on newspaper first. For thin lines like whiskers I helped guide their hand. Spots I let them put where they wanted.
Be sure to let paint dry fully before adding sequins and other items.

Ideas for the Classroom

Pet Rock Interview

For fun, write a few sentences on the white board for your class to answer. Have each child draw their pet rock and add it to their answers on a sheet of paper. Or make a class Pet Rock Book with everyone's picture and story about their pet rock.

Sample Questions:

What is your pet's name?
What is your pet's favorite color?
What does your pet like to do?
What is your pet's favorite food?
What do you do to take care of your pet rock?

Read Books About Rocks

There are several books you could read about rocks non fiction as well as fiction titles.

Pet Rock Ideas

Make a Paper Weight. Paint flowers or designs on it for variation.
Garden Pets, our girls decorated our garden with a few of their pet rocks. When we moved, we found a few in our yard in the beds. It was a cool coincidence.

Educational Note

In 1975, an advertising executive named Gary Dahl produced the first pet rocks which sold for US $3.95 each. The pet rocks, were wrapped in packing material and placed in a small cardboard box constructed like a pet carrier. Included was a "Pet Rock Training Manual", with instructions on how to properly raise and care for your new pet. The instruction manual contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While "sit" and "stay" were easy to learn, "roll over" required extra help from the owner.
In history, we can find pet rocks dating back to Ancient Egypt in tomb paintings, North America. In ancient Britain we have Stonehenge which is an iconic structure of standing stones. In fact in many cultures there have been evidence of pet rocks or rocks having a special significance.