Painted Pumpkin Rocks for Play

Fun and easy painted pumpkin rocks!  They're perfect for homemade games, story-telling, counting and open-ended play.

I'm a huge fan of playing with items found in nature.  In particular, stones and rocks are fantastic.  They're so versatile, and can be used for all kinds of play and learning activities!  Today I'm showing you how to make these adorable painted pumpkin rocks because there's a great Halloween math game that we're going to play with them.

To make your painted pumpkin rocks, you'll need:

• 12 Smooth, small beach stones
• paintbrush
• orange acrylic craft pant
• black Sharpie marker

Painting your rocks:

I applied a thick coat of acrylic craft paint to the top and sides of my rocks.  You don't have to use acrylic paint, but I recommend it because of the coverage it provides.

You could go with a thicker coat than I did in this photo, but don't worry if the grey of the rock shows through.  A second coat will take care of things.

When I say a "thick" coat, I mean slather it on.  You want to be able to cover your rocks in two quick coats, and if you brush your paint on too thinly, your rocks will require more than that.

Lay your rocks in a warm, sunny spot, and they'll be dry in a jiffy.

Flip 'em over, and brush a thick coat on the backside of each rock.

When the backs of the rocks are dry, repeat the process

When all of your rocks are painted, you'll have a collection of beautiful, orange "pumpkins" to decorate.  Aren't they pretty?  The paint will look a little chalky, but don't worry, we'll add some shine after we make our pumpkin faces.

Faces on the front, numbers on the back:

To make the pumpkin faces on your stones, use your black sharpie marker to draw on some eyes and mouths.  I made triangle and oval eyes, and of course, lots of zig-zag jack-o-lantern mouths.

Now, flip the rocks over, and number each one from 1 to 12 with your marker.

 

Honestly!  Look at those little faces!  Could they be any cuter?

Varnishing your pumpkin rocks:

To add a bit of shine to the rocks and to protect the paint from wearing off, I gave them all a quick coat of craft varnish.

And that's it, that's all!  You're pumpkin rocks are ready for play!

Now you just need to grab the details for that Halloween math game I mentioned, and have some fun!

 

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