Over the last couple of months kids have found a few painted rocks. The craze is like one big treasure hunt in which you’re encouraged to find painted rocks and then rehide them so the game continues. It’s a great way to encourage the kids to get out and about too.
Where to find rocks to paint
If you can’t find any rocks around then you can buy them on Amazon or sometimes DIY or gardening shops will sell them. Large rocks with a flattish side work well, but any shape will do.
How to create your own painted rocks
There are two main ways to paint rocks, either using acrylic paints or using special pens. A common choice are permanent pens such as Sharpies. But if you don’t want your kids and furniture to be permanently marked use Posca pens instead, these are slightly more scratchy to use than some other pens and are easier to get off clothes.
It’s common to to put on the back of rocks to include some sort of instructions for what you want the finder to do next, usually the case is to share a photo to your local Facebook group so they could see if it had been found!
Varnishing your painted rocks
To varnish your rocks use PlastiKote Clear Super Gloss Clear Sealer which is a spray varnish – this stops all your designs disappearing if they get rained on! As this is an aerosol spray you’ll want to use it outside and well away from the kids, use a plastic bag to protect your garden from getting varnished too.
Where to hide painted rocks
We think there are two ways to look at hiding your rocks: firstly you can really hide them so that someone has really got to try hard to find them. Secondly you can put them somewhere a bit easy so they’ll actually be found again.
If you’re not already a member of your local rock hunting group then make sure to look for one on Facebook – a quick search of your town or county’s name and rocks in the search bar normally does the trick and you’ll often see that a lot of your local friends are in whatever the most busy local one for you is. Hopefully when your rocks are found someone will share a picture in the group and it’s fun for your kids to see their design being found
4 takeaway tips for hiding painted rocks:
Don’t hide rocks close to roads or other dangers, like canals or lakes.
Remember to write instructions on the back for whoever finds it, something like share a photo and then rehide works well.
Don’t make your hiding place too hard – you want it to be found after all!
Make sure you hide them in public spaces, not private property
