Rocks are Cheap yet Priceless

Here Are 10 Things Families Can Do With ROCKS!

 What are ten things a family can do with rocks after children no longer put things in their mouth? Top of the list children love to throw and skip stones in the water. Help them look for thin flat rocks and show them how to flick their wrists to have rocks hit the water on the flat side. Kids and adults can pick a target to hit like another big rock or a spot a reasonable distance away so everyone can participate.

 Children like to make messages shapes like hearts, circles, squares and triangles with rocks.  They also like to draw with rocks and soon find rocks that are soft like sandstone and hard like granite.  Point out that it is important not to deface public places.

Making Cairns

  Making rock piles that balance called cairns teach engineering. Scouts and many cultures use certain rock piles for warnings and trail markings. The Inuit and others make them to symbolize protection, memorials, holy messages, and directions. How high can the cairn get? How can the rocks be piled large to small, small to large, or mixed up? Can they make a little bridge or window? Cairns can decorate gardens and shorelines. They can say “I was here.”  Will they be here when I return? Children can paint cairns and adults can varnish them to stay shiny in gardens.

 What lives under rocks?  Land or water, there are surprises underneath, lessons  about nature and reasons we should not be afraid, only curious.

Decorate, Collect, Skip & Throw, Research...a few things.

Comfort Rocks

  Children can decorate pet rocks with wiggly eyes. They can make rock families and animals by painting and gluing rocks together. Sometimes rocks are just for looking at, touching, putting under your pillow, keeping in your pocket or surprising Mom when she does the wash. Children have treasures and they like to talk about them. They also like to make rock collections of beauties to keep. They can keep cheap souvenirs of places the family visits.

 Rocks are fun to photograph whether the kids have climbed a rock for a better view or used them to step across a stream on hot day with a little helping hand. If they catch the sun just right in clear water rocks look beautiful and shiny.  Coat with Modge Podge or spray with clear acrylic to retain the shine.

  There are many library books and sites about rock basics to learn about the three types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.

 Museums have rock collections and books to identify local rocks. Young children may be most interested in color, shine, and the texture of rocks. Collections could be organized by those categories and reorganized as they grow older. For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/ Learning Through the Seasons live and podcasts.

Cardboard Boxes Spur Imaginations

Make a Town!

Do you have a few cardboard boxes around? Then you are prepared for children. 

 All you need are boxes, string, ruler markers, box cutter or knife, and duct tape.

 If you bring a few boxes home leave them in the children’s bedroom. Don’t do anything with the boxes for a few days.  Just let children use their imaginations and art supplies on the boxes. They may make action figure houses, garages for cars, a vehicle, or a whole city.

Imaginations

   Who are your children’s story heroes? Are they interested in space characters, princesses, book characters, knights, or super heroes? Imaginary play encourages children to plan a story, take turns being characters, design costumes, 

Who Are Your favorite Characters?

set up scenes, plan problems, and use teamwork to solve them. Both the planning and the actual play develop the brain.

    Two large sturdy shipping boxes for stoves are ideal for castles or space stations. Remove any staples. Cut out the top and bottom. For easier storage and handling cut one seam of each box so they store flat. 

Building

  To make a structure, open them up and arrange so they make one large circle with any writing facing inside. Make two puncture holes on end sections and tie them with string so they stay together.

  To make a simple drawbridge type door  a castle or  ship, cut off one section of the cardboard.  Puncture a hole on each top corner of this section about four inches from the top and side. Cut two pieces of sturdy string 2 ½ yards. Tie one to each hole. Leave the other ends free for now.

    Make a hole four inches from the top and side in the two wall sections nearest the drawbridge. Thread each drawbridge string through a wall hole and tie securely. To allow children to close the drawbridge, make a slanted slash on the top of the castle or space ship. Children can pull each side of the drawbridge and secure the strings in the slash. You can help decorate with rulers and markers, cut windows, draw trees and flowers. 

  Children can help make cardboard costumes and props reinforced with duct tape. For crowns, armor, light s  
abers, shields, or swords draw patterns on newspaper first. Then trace on cardboard, cut out, and decorate. 

   Children can act out their story and take turns being a favorite character.  The cardboard will easily fold up ready for storage. 

Make a Video of Your Story Village

These little plays make great Facetime drama or movies to send to long distance relatives.

  There are some children’s books about playing with boxes.  Check out “The Big Box” by Toni and Slade Morrison and “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis. The internet has many ideas for building with cardboard  boxes.

  For more see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com, wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live and podcasts; also Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos