Toddler and Preschool Rock Crafts

1. My Pet Rock Craft  (both toddler and preschool)

There is a cute pet rock writing sheet at https://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/free-printable-pet-rock-writing.html. I had the parent write the child's answers to the writing prompts.

Materials:
1. Rocks that are about the size of the palm of a child's hand 
2. Paint in a variety of colors
3. Pipe cleaners in a variety of colors
4. Googly eyes
5. Beads in many colors
6. Pom poms in a variety of colors
7. Brushes
8. Feathers
9. Yarn
10. 6 inch plates for paint
11. Glue gun
12. Scissors
13. Pet Rock Writing Sheet




Instructions:
Model creating your own pet rock. Then simply lay out the materials and encourage the children to be creative as they want. Some of the children used pipe cleaners to add arms and legs. Some even gave their pet rock a tail.

My example is with acrylic paint. It was better at covering up the natural black color of the rock than the tempera. I put out both and let the parents choose. I made sure they knew that the acrylic can stain clothing.

When a child is finished with his or her Pet Rock, have him or her hold it up and share it.

2.  Rock Pictures     (preschool)

  Materials:

  1. Small rocks (from Dollar Tree)

  2. Gravel sized rocks (I bought a package designed for a fish tank from Walmart)

  3. Tacky glue

  4. Foam boards (I bought some of the black and white poster board size at Dollar Tree, and used an X-acto kinife to cut them to paper size.)

Instructions:

1. Brainstorm with the children things that they can make a picture of using rocks.

2. Give each child a foam board, a pile of gravel, a pile of small rocks, and a container of tacky glue.

3. Have the children share their creations.