Art Project #16: Pet Rocks

June 10, 2016

I asked the boys if they'd like to paint some pet rocks for themselves. I thought it would be a fun crating activity and something they'd all be OK participating with.

I have to admit that we're only on day 16 and I'm really starting to struggle with great art ideas that they'll all enjoy for our 100 Days of Art Challenge!

We looked up pet rock ideas on Pinterest and the internet for inspiration. They then went and hunted up rocks to use. Ian and Evan had some in their rooms and while Alec has a HUGE collection of rocks he didn't want to use any of those. So, he found a new rock in our yard.

We pulled out brushes, tempera paint, chalk (for sketching designs), cups of water, paper plates (for mixing colors on), paper towels, and sharpie markers.

Alec took one look at the rock he found and told me he was going to make a woodpecker. He explained where the crest would be, the beak and the eyes but I just could not "see it." I worried he would not like the end result of his project or ask me for help and I'd feel unable to help him. I tried to talk him into making something else but his mind was made up. He told me he just needed to see a few pictures on the internet and he'd be fine.

Evan, meanwhile, wanted to make a turtle. he found a nice big flat rock that we thought would be perfect. I suggested he draw out his design in chalk before painting and helped him mix up the right colors of green.

Ian, who is not really my animal kid, decided he wanted to make a skeleton fish. Not quite what I had had in mind but he's approaching those teen years and likes the color black, anything having to do with skulls and bones, and I've learned these are not battles worth my time or energy. He was participating and happy about so I was happy too.

They all took a slightly different approach; Ian and Evan painted their whole rock first while Alec immediately set to work only painting portions of his bird as he drew them in. We took breaks for the paint to dry when needed.