Family: Painting Hidden Rocks
Unless you’ve ‘been living under a rock’, you will have noticed painted stones popping up all over your social media feeds and around your local area. These hidden rocks form part of one massive community treasure hunt for kids and adults alike.
Hidden Rock Facebook Groups
The Facebook group Hidden Rocks has over 13,000 members, all decorating their rocks, taking photos of them, hiding them and then uploading photos of any rocks they find on their travels. It’s amazing – a rock that started off in Durham could find itself sitting besides an ice cream shop in Portsmouth’s South Sea.
Once you’ve painted and vanished your rocks, it’s time to hide them! If you search on Facebook, you’ll most likely find loads of hidden rock groups that are around in your area. You’ll see who’s hiding rocks, what the rocks look like and where they’ve been hidden. I have noticed that the rocks in my county are split between very local areas – the park, in town, by the train station and then some are in more rural, ‘outdoorsy’ zones, such as Alice Holt Forest and The Look Out Discovery Centre/Swinley Forest. When you go on Facebook, you’ll probably find groups for both your town and county.
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A fantastic family activity to do together
Painting, hiding and hunting for hidden rocks is a great family activity to do, and actually finding someone else’s rock is extremely satisfying! The process is great, from start to finish: you can express your creativity, get outside in the fresh air and spend quality time as a family. What’s not to love, especially with summer on the way!
It’s also really exciting when you log into Facebook and find that someone else has found one of your rocks! We recently went out and hid a bunch of stones in the woods the next town over from us. The next morning, we woke up to find that someone had found Luke’s bumble bee rock, taken a picture of it and told us they were off to go and hide it again for the next person to find.
Supplies Needed For Rock Painting
Generally speaking, the only thing you need to buy is vanish – it’s recommended to use all purpose waterproof yacht vanish (bonus: this yacht vanish comes as a spray, so it’s much easier to apply!) Some people choose to use normal poster paint, but acrylic paint creates bolder, brighter colours. Additionally, you can experiment with Sharpies, acrylic paint maker pens and metallic marker pens to make some truly striking designs. As mentioned earlier, some people have used glitter and stickers – I wouldn’t encourage the use of these items because of the effects they may have on the environment if/when the vanish wears thin on the rocks.
Hiding Places
It’s up to you weather you want to make your rocks hard or easy to find. If you’re in the park, hiding a rock at the base of a tree is the perfect place – children can spot it without getting themselves into any danger (or standing in dog poop!). Hiding it in a hedge off the beaten track may not be the best place to hide them as very few people are likely to walk that way.
You could try hiding your rocks in some of these places: the base of trees/in tree trunks, outside shops, at National Trust sites, the edges of car parks (make sure you’re careful), low walls, ride-on toys outside shops, at the top of the slide in the playground, at the bus stop or in the library – next to the children’s section!
So what are you waiting for?
Grab some rocks, get creative and head outside for a family adventure!
22 Comments
Kaz | Ickle Pickles Life and Travels
I love this – such a great activity for the children. I haven’t found any near us though! Kaz
Lukeosaurus And Me
It’s hours of entertainment for the children – choosing/buying the rocks, painting them, vanishing them and then going out to find really good hiding places. You should go on Facebook and see if there’s a group for your local area!
Lauren Davis
I think these painted rocks things are so cute! I hope you had a great time doing this 🙂
Lukeosaurus And Me
We both love doing it, it’s fun to spend some creative time together and then all go out as a family to hide them afterwards.
Rhian Westbury
I’ve seen quit a lot of people do these and they look so adorable, love your paintings x
Lukeosaurus And Me
It seems to be really popular all over the place now.
Michelle Kellogg
That is a very interesting idea! And I like the idea of making it a family activity. I bet the kids love searching for these rocks;)
Lukeosaurus And Me
My boy loves it and it certainly gets everyone out of the house!
Nazrin
I think this is AN AWESOME IDEA! My love for painting grew over recent years 7 I wish I was able to tap into my creativity more as a child! I think this is perfect for all children who want to get a little artsy!
Lukeosaurus And Me
It really is – it’s not just for children though! I’ve seen so many beautifully designed rocks that have been painted by adults and hidden. Sometimes they have gorgeous illustrations and sometimes life affirming and motivational messages of kindness.
Jennifer @ The Champagne Supernova
This is such a great idea and so fun for the kids to discover painted rocks and then hide them all over again.
Lukeosaurus And Me
It’s like living in one big treasure hunt! 😀
Laura
I love this idea so much and it’s the perfect summer activity for kids (and adults – I love painting). Putting this on my list of things to do with the kids over half term
Laura x
Lukeosaurus And Me
It’s such good fun, you find some amazing designs by the children, but also there are so many positive messages that the grown ups have written onto these rocks too. I think it’s a really special thing. 🙂
Mummy here and there
I love this idea, so happy and positive X #coolmumclub
Lukeosaurus And Me
It’s really lovely and you find some amazing designs. 🙂
l dove
We found our first painted rock this weekend and the children were so happy!! We haven’t done our own but now they want to!
Lukeosaurus And Me
Oh congratulations! We have a big pile on the kitchen counter to paint and hide. I’m saving them for half term. 🙂
Jayne @ Sticky Mud and Belly Laughs
What a fun family activity! We haven’t found any yet, but I am sure we will 🙂
MMT
Ooh I love this idea! I’m not on facebook but would love to seek out any Kent Rock hiders! Might just have to hide a few myself…
Thanks for linking to #coolmumclub
Jason Dras
These are some amazing rock painting shown here it is really beautiful and I also got lots of new ideas for rock paintings. Thanks for sharing a great post.
Manco Painting
Looks like you had a lot of fun. What a wonderful family activity. Thanks!