Painting Rocks and Sticks – TV Free Activity

Painting rocks? How fun can that be and why would you want to do it?

Well, today kicks off Screen Free Week. This week is dedicated to turning off various forms of media and turning on real life activities. Every year this event rolls around and many families either turn off their electronics for the week or they reduce the time spent pursuing those activities. We generally do the latter because we don’t actually spend that much time watching TV…though computers are a different story. At an rate I would have a mutiny on my hands if I just flat out said no electronics, but coming up with fun, TV free activities that get them away from these devices without them even noticing is much easier.

One of those activities we did recently was to paint sticks and rocks. It is a completely simple project that gets them outside and handling nature. It is also unique enough and fun enough to keep them interested. We spent about 1-2 hours painting (and allowing to dry) and then the kid splayed outside with their new wares for the remainder of the day. I sat on my fave Adirondack chair and read a book. We now have the prettiest rocks and stray sticks of anyone on the block. What more could you ask for?

We actually did this project a few weeks back but they still play with these rocks and sticks…as do neighborhood kids. What I liked most about it is that we already had the paints in all sorts of bright colors (from when we painted our ice cream truck) and we had all the brushes on hand as well. All we had to do was go looking for rocks and sticks, which are easy enough to find for free. We will definitely do this cheap and fun little project again.