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Rock Rumble – Shake Painting with Rocks!

August 13, 2009 by notjustcute Filed Under: Create, Learning through Play and Experience 6 Comments

 Here’s a fun and noisy way to paint without much of a mess.

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 To start, you need large containers with lids, paper, and paints (I used craft paint just because I had it and need to use it up.  It’s more permanent on clothes, but most of  the mess stays inside the cans, and I was doing this on a messy clothes day anyway.  You could certainly use the more friendly tempera paint.)  Oh, and you’ll need rocks!  Lots of little rocks.  Doing this activity outside is certainly helpful!

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 Slide the paper into the canister (you may need to trim to fit), and drop in a handful of small rocks.  Some children love picking out each individual rock. 

 

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 Drop in a few colors of paint onto the rocks, seal the lid, and then, with one hand on the lid and one hand on the bottom, have the children shake, rattle, and roll.  (Though for literal rolling, be sure they don’t have larger rocks inside, and that they’re not kicking it.  These two factors can lead to the lid popping off.)

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When the children are done shaking, take out the paper for a cool look at how the rocks transferred the paint!

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As a fun by-product, you also get some really uniquely painted rocks.  Set them all out to dry.  If you’re doing this out in the summer sun, it shouldn’t take too long!

This activity fosters creativity as well as large motor skills.  It would be a great activity to use in a unit on rocks, sound, or colors.  It’s also just a great outdoor art activity.  So shake things up and try painting with rocks!

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Related

Comments

  1. 2
    TheBargainBabe says:
    August 29, 2011 at 2:04 pm

    I found this idea on pinterest. 🙂 I love what you have done here, it looks like so much fun! I will have to dig out paints and containers and let my kids have a go at it! Thank you for sharing. 🙂

    Reply
  2. 3
    Stephanie Park says:
    March 31, 2013 at 10:47 pm

    Thank you for posting this wonderful idea. I am sharing this in my latest blog.

    http://simpleplanner.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/you-rock-my-world/

    Reply
  3. 4
    Missy @ Dot-to-Dot Connections says:
    January 27, 2014 at 5:28 pm

    What a great idea! I especially love the mess free part 😉 Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Making story stones in preschool | Teach Preschool says:
    August 28, 2011 at 7:16 pm

    […] Rock Rumble by Not Just Cute […]

    Reply
  2. What's in My Art Closet: Five Favorite Supplies - Not Just CuteNot Just Cute says:
    July 24, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    […] Beautiful Junk:  Back in the day when I taught at a university lab school, we had an entire closet space labeled “Beautiful Junk”.  Today I have a shelf or two of my own with cardboard tubes, empty oatmeal canisters, and styrofoam bricks that once accompanied something precious in the mail.  Anything that can be repurposed into a creative project finds a temporary landing spot here before being incorporated into a sculpture, a marble track, or being used for shake painting. […]

    Reply
  3. You ROCK My World! | Simple Planner says:
    March 31, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    […] Rock Rumble Painting @ notjustcute.com […]

    Reply

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I'm a writer, teacher, speaker, trainer, and mom. I advocate for children and for childhood, and for intentional, whole child development.

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