Rocks on the brain

I am a fan of rocks.

Big ones, little ones, smooth ones, odd shaped or coloured ones, they call to me in a way that other things in nature do not.

I'm not sure why, though I have geologists in my both my husband's family and my own extended family.

Not blood related to me though, so I can't claim familial tendency.
I stand corrected by my big sis, SHE has a geology background, so there ya go, it IS in my immediate family.

I do remember driving my parents just a wee bit crazy with the amount of rocks I used to collect and when they upped sticks and moved countries some years back, they still had a few boxes of my rocks in their house.

Needless to say, I have curbed my collection somewhat, though I do find myself encouraging my boys to pick up and closely inspect any rock that takes their fancy, I just can't seem to help myself.

And rocks are thrifty as far as entertainment goes, there are endless varieties and often there are plenty of free places to collect them from.

Another positive, if the kids....or you....get sick of the rock collection, they can be returned to nature.

So what to do with all the rocks they collect?

(Just so you know, they do not collect them from a natural source, but from a communal rock garden down the street.)

This time we painted them.

And see our recycled paint containers?
Egg cartons are perfect for this, they don't spill or tip over and they can be tossed in the recycling once you're done.

Older kids can (try) to paint shapes, faces or bugs on their rock...

And little ones can just paint........whatever.

Really, the fun at this preschool age is in the act of painting and not so much in the finished product.

And at the end, my two will invariably paint their hands.

Have you painted on your skin? It's a bit of a cool feeling and in summer, maybe I'll let them get nekkid and paint their whole selves.

But, back to the business at hand.

I love this activity on so many levels because.....

It's cheap. Er, I mean thrifty.
It involves outside time while collecting (although we have painted outside in nice weather)
It involves paint.
And rocks.
And concentration from wee people.
And mess that is usually confined to one table and two children.

All things I can deal with on an average mum-at-home-with-two-kids day.