Rock Painting with a 3-year old

Pinterest. I love browsing through Pinterest.  You can type in just about anything in the search box and get tons of ideas from creative people!  I love that you can save Pins for later reference.  I love that I can send a Pin to a friend to share something I think they would enjoy. And I love seeing things that would never have crossed my mind.  Like Rock Painting. Who would have thought? But WOW!  I’ve seen some of the most amazing artwork… on rocks!  

I created a Pinterest Board for rock painting ideas I want to save for inspiration. You can see Board HERE.  

Besides seeing intricate pieces of art on rocks, I also noticed some very simple paintings. Paintings a 3-year-old could do with a little guidance. So I gathered up some rocks, paint brushes, and paint in preparation for my next visit with Owen (grandson, age 3).

While Owen played with his cars, I gleefully set out our painting supplies in anticipation of not only some fun but also some great grandma-grandson bonding over “crafts.” Once everything was on the table and we were ready to go, I asked Owen, who was playing with his cars, if he was ready to paint.

Owen: No, I’m not ready.
Me: When will you be ready?
Owen:  Soon…… soon means later.

Hmmm… okay.  Owen LOVES cars. How could I drag him away from his cars to paint when he had Lightning McQueen in one hand and Mater in the other.

I waited 10 minutes and then told Owen that “later” was now. So he came to the table.  He brought Lightning McQueen with him, but that was okay.  We decided to paint a ladybug. I thought that would be easy for him and he would enjoy success. (which would equal pride, which means he might want to do crafts with me again!)

Owen painted the rock black, then I taped off the straight lines, and he painted the red. I put the eyes on, and he finished up with the black dots on the body.  Yes, he did scamper off to play with his cars while each paint color dried. But I would still quantify this as a win/win. He squeezed in some “car time,” and I got to “play” crafts with him.

And in the end, we had a super cute ladybug that Owen, was, indeed proud of. And he had fun! I know that because Owen asked me to bring green paint next time I come so we could make some Ninja Turtles.  I can’t wait!

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Comments (9)

  1. Anne

    Love it,Owen’s ladybug is great and it sounds like a great activity to share with the grandkids 🙂

    June 30, 2017 at 5:34 pm
  2. Beatrice Skinner Loren

    That turned out so cute. Love the rock painting idea. We’ll give it a try.

    July 1, 2017 at 5:06 am
  3. Terry

    My daughter loved rock painting when she was little. In, kindergarten, they did the ladybug rocks as paper weights for Father’s Day. She made rocks into cats, too. It was so fun. She’s almost 237, and we still have those little treasures from her. I also have a small, flat rock that has a beautiful barn scene painted on it that I got years ago. I love my little artwork treasures.

    July 1, 2017 at 2:00 pm
    • Karen

      You know, Terry, this was NEW to me, but someone else told me they used to paint rocks years ago too. I guess it’s true that everything just cycles, right? Your rock with the barn scene sounds lovely!

      July 1, 2017 at 6:21 pm
  4. Sonya

    And the greatest thing is not just Owens wonderful ‘ladybug’ or his unknowingly bonding with Grandmother but he’s planning for another painting day to paint ‘Ninja Turtles’. He put some 3 year old thoughts into the ‘next’ time. You did great Karen.

    July 2, 2017 at 1:56 am
    • Karen

      Thanks, Sonya! Owen is an amazing little boy.

      July 2, 2017 at 6:12 am
  5. Aww – this is sooo cute and Owen did a great job! Can it go into the garden? I hope so. What an awesome tradition that would be!

    July 5, 2017 at 3:27 pm
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