Kids Crafts - Hand Painted Ladybug Garden Rocks

Last week the family went hiking at a local park. While walking along the banks of the creek we came across some large smooth river rocks or creek rocks and brought a few home to craft with. These smooth river rocks measure 4" up to 6" in length and all of them are oval shape.

We decided to set the kids up and let them do a little craft project with some of the river rocks we brought home. Most of the rocks were the perfect shape and size to turn into ladybugs. Here is how we made them.

Hand Painted Ladybug Garden Rocks

Large Smooth Oval Shaped River Rocks
Red and Black Acrylic Paint
White Chalk Ink Paint Pen
Paint Brush, Paper Towel, Water
Waxed Paper
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer

Lay down wax paper, old plastic table cloth or old plastic placemat to protect your table surface. Use an old plastic margarine bowl lid as your painting pallet. Squirt the red acrylic paint onto the lid and have the kids paint the entire front side of their river rock with red acrylic paint. Let dry for 20 minutes. Flip it over and paint the other side; let dry for 20 minutes. If needed, repeat if the river rock needs a second coat of paint.

Squirt black acrylic paint onto the lid and have the kids paint a head and a stripe down the ladybug's back. They then need to paint black dots or ovals for the polka dots. We did find that we needed to use 2 complete coats of black acrylic paint. Let dry.

Using a White Chalk Ink Paint Pen dry on 2 oval shaped eyes. This type of paint pen dries within seconds but to be on the safe side we waited 5 minutes and then added a smaller black circle; left dry for 20 minutes and then used the White Chalk Ink Paint Pen to add the pupil. Make sure your "rock pet" is completely dry before proceeding.

Take your garden rocks outside and lay them on a sheet of plastic or waxed paper. Spray one side of the river rock with clear acrylic sealer. Let dry for 30 minutes; flip over and repeat. We gave all of our ladybug garden rocks 2 complete coats of acrylic sealer to seal in the paint since we were placing them outside around the house and in the garden.

If you love this easy kid's project...check back in a few weeks for some additional "rock pets" that we are painting. Fun and a cheap craft project for the kids!