Painted Rocks Tell Colorful Stories

You rock! Believe in yourself! SMILE!

For many people, finding a painted rock brings instant joy, whether you stumble on one while walking along a nature trail, playing at the park, or doing some shopping downtown. Discovering a painted rock always sparks a welcome burst of happiness!

The viral trend is traced back to 2015 when a simple “You’ve got this” message was left on a rock on a Cape Cod beach in Maine. While it has evolved into many different forms over the years, it’s all linked to the same goal—to spread kindness.

The Kindness Rocks Project now has international ties in countless communities and continues to be an uplifting effort. You can join in too! Painting rocks is a great, low-cost activity for people of all ages and skill levels. It combines creativity with positive messages and sweet pictures all to make someone’s day a little brighter. What’s not to love?

Give it a try and paint your own!

They can be as simple or as intricate as you’d like. There is no right or wrong way to do it. (That’s the best part!) It’s all about creative expression. Let your ideas, the colors, or the shape of the rock itself inspire you. The activity also provides a great opportunity to discuss kindness with your child(ren). Talk about how it feels to make others smile, to share nice messages, or even to receive them.

All you need are clean rocks, paint, and paintbrushes!

Our biggest tip is to cover your workspace to help contain the mess. You’ll also want to wait for your rocks to dry completely between layers and/or before adding any written messages. A sharpie or paint pen works nicely for this if you don’t have a steady hand and a thin brush tip to lead the way.

Inspire colorful storytelling!

Take the activity one step further by encouraging your child to use the painted rocks to practice their developing storytelling abilities. Look at what you’ve created and try to link them together with thoughts and ideas. Literacy is a major foundational piece of early education. As teachers, we love to know you’re practicing this important skill at home too.

Watch this video as our friend, Laura Bevier, Senior Manager of Sales & Strategic Partnerships for Learning Care Group, makes painted rocks with her daughters, Merrick (3) and Elliot (6).

Now it’s your turn! Here are a couple of simple storytelling examples too:

It’s a warm summer day (*sun) and the air is filled with blue skies (*clouds). A *green frog and *red ladybug take shelter in the shade of the *green garden. Along the way, they spot a *yellow bumblebee looking for colorful *flowers to land on! (7 rocks)

I love (*heart) when my family (*smiling stick figures) visits the beach (*shell). We enjoy making *sandcastles and swimming in the cool *blue water to look for *fish. We like to toss a *beachball back and forth. It makes me laugh (*smiley face). (8 rocks)

We’d love to see your creations and hear your stories. Tag us in your photos and videos online as you create together. And then, have fun sharing them in your community too! Each one will make someone else smile and you never know how much they might have needed it. There’s no better feeling.