I know this doesn’t sound very exciting, but we got a surprising level of thrill this weekend from making pet rocks–so much so, that Lainey woke up early this morning–her eyes barely open–to ask if we could play pet rocks again. I know we parents are very good at pretending we are every bit as excited as our kids for things like watching garbage trucks out front or finding the moon in the sky, but the more you play along, this amazing thing happens. You actually do find these things thrilling. I felt like an 8-year-old this weekend, digging through the craft bin looking for anything that might make good rock hair (pipe cleaner! yarn! felt!) and felt a wave of endorphins kick in watching Lainey write down personality traits for each of her rock pets. Getting swept up by imagination is about the best thing that can happen to a little brain.
But first, snow cones–a cheery prequel for coming months and a refreshing end to our Farmer’s Market morning yesterday.
Who has time for spoon straws anyway? Dig. In.
On to pet rocks. They provided hours of entertainment this weekend–both from creating them and imagining stories for their characters.
What You Need
rocks
acrylic paint
small paintbrushes
glue
googly eyes
We dug through junk drawers and craft bins and used what we found to make clothes and accessories. A few ideas:
For clothes & accessories: wire (glasses), yarn (hair), pipe cleaner (hair), felt (hair or clothing), cotton batting (grandma hair), paper doilies (clothing trim), lace (clothing), fabric (clothing), thin ribbon (hair bows), small silk flowers (hair accessory), doll house/Barbie hat, small pearls (necklace)
For Pet Rock house: shoe box, x-acto knife (for cutting door and windows), decorative scrapbook paper (we found a brick print for outside of house and floral for the inside wallpaper), scissors, spray adhesive (for adhering wallpaper), moss (for floor), glue (adhering moss). Furniture and home accessories: dollhouse/fairy garden accessories or make your own
They transform from dumb ‘ol rocks to real characters when you add a mouth. I saw it happen.
This is Grandma Lou Lou. She’s my favorite.
I love watching my kids name things. There’s no rhyme or reason to any of it: Mia, Zappy, Pinto Beans.
Grandma Lou Lou looks like she’s about to do something crazy.
Making bed sheets.
And then she took it to the moon by creating personalities, and I died. Of course Grandma Lou Lou is a gem–I mean, with a face like that, how could she not be?
Watch out for Malloy though. She’s a real starts-with-b, rhymes-with-itch.
If reincarnation is a thing, then I want to come back as a pet rock.
Sneaky face.
Imagination seemed to be the theme of the weekend because our bunnies also became alive.
And this is why you don’t walk bunnies in real life.
Happy Monday!
“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities.” ~Dr. Seuss