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Spin Art Rocks - Awesome Art Project for KidsSometimes when I’m doing a project intended for a post it turns out to be a pretty epic fail.  Other times, when I put little to no thought into it, something magical happens.  That’s what happened here.  My family went to the beach this weekend and had a fantastic day building sand castles, playing in the water and collecting rocks.  The rocks were so beautiful and plentiful, we decided it was ok to take a few home to enjoy. I really wanted to do something I hadn’t seen before with the rocks, but with awesome rock dominoes like this floating around pinterest and amazing rock art round ups like this from The Artful Parent it’s kind of hard.  Luckily, it was the witching hour when we got home, so I didn’t have much time to think.  I grabbed two salad spinners and  some paint and 45 minutes later we were still making the most amazing rock spin art ever.  This was awesome! Both my girls, 1.5 and 3 years old, could do it with very little assistance and they loved it.  I’m slightly obsessed with how beautiful the rocks came out.  Each rock looks like a piece of art.  To see an awesome way to display your spin art rocks click here.

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Rock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsThe process is really simple and has so many fun components for little ones to participate in.  First, they get to wash and play with the rocks.  Next, they get to choose which rocks they want to put in the spinner.  Amazon just started selling the ikea salad spinner!! For paints you have a few options.  We have a ton of different color paints in little squeeze bottles making them easy for little hands.  The Mala paints from Ikea are my absolute fav.  The colors are super vibrant and they last surprisingly long.  You can also buy small bottles like these non toxic tempera paints.  The trick is to just squirt a little bit of paint onto the rocks in the spinner.  I know, easier said than done when it comes to little kids, but with a little training they can do it! I have worked with Gigi a long time on using “a little bit,” and let me tell you, she’s got it.  D is up next.  So after the kids pick the rocks  and place them in the spinner, they squeeze a little bit of paint on top of them.  I helped my kids only put a few rocks in the spinner at once.  They had the tendency to want to put about 50 in at once.  You might have to do the same.

Rock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsRock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsThe paint looked gorgeous on the rocks before we even did anything.  I knew right away we were onto something good.  We closed the spinners and started turning.  Both my girls needed a little help closing and opening the lids, but man, they definitely did not need help spinning the spinner.  They loved this part! Spin, spin, spin.  Work those muscles girls.

Rock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsRock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsThe results were so fantastic when we opened up the lid.  We oohed and ahhhed over and over again.  Definitely the trickiest part was convincing my girls not to just grab the rocks any which way they wanted because that quickly turned the spin art into mush.  This took a bit of persuasive parenting finesse, but finally D crumbled and let me do it.  Gigi watched me and then did it herself.  Little monkeys.  We had a paper nearby to hold our painted rocks for drying.

Rock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsRock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsRock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsOverall, I seriously give this activity a ten.  It was so much fun and the rocks came out gorgeous! I don’t know exactly what we’ll do with them yet but I’m thinking some kind of shadow box.  In the meantime, we’ve put them into magnatile castles, had a tea party with them, and just recently I was awarded a bowl of them as my girls sang happy birthday to me.  My birthday is in October.  Have fun everybody!

Rock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for KidsRock Spin Art - Awesome Art Project for Kids

If you’re looking for some great suggestions for art supplies, this my top ten art supply list for kids after teaching art for almost 20 years.  xo Meri

best art and craft supplies for kids