Best Creative Rock Painting Ideas For Earth Day (Easy + Fun)

If you’re looking for an engaging Earth Day activity for your students this year, you’ll definitely want to try these rock painting ideas with environmental messages! Painting rocks with elementary students can be a fun and engaging activity. I’m excited to have this step-by-step guide to help you through the process! If you’d like to download the FREE guide where everything is compiled for you in a packet ready to go, check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store here! 

Let’s have some fun this Earth Day! Although this activity is targeted at Elementary students, these rock painting ideas really can be for kids of all ages! This fun activity has been used with older kids and even adults! 

Here are some rock painting ideas for your students this Earth Day using environmental messages! 

For me, the rock painting ideas came from an experience I had at a gas station. While waiting for my tank to fill, I glanced around and found a painted rock sitting next to the pump. When I looked at the rock, it was beautiful and had the words “You Are Loved”. I grabbed the rock and saved it.

Months later when looking for a project to do around Earth Day to pair with a litter cleanup, my colleagues and I decided to add rock painting to the cleanup day! We planned to come up with the best rock painting ideas and allow volunteers to paint the rocks with a positive message and leave them around a local park! It was a hit. The group had so much fun and we knew it was a good idea. 

I later found out that rock painting ideas are part of a larger project called Kindness Rocks Project. Kindness Rock Project is a movement to share positive messages in a creative way to help encourage others. Many people share these rocks on social media or even turn this fun project into a great gift. For us, we’re going to use these rock crafts as a simple way to celebrate Earth Day.

I’ve included everything you need to know to make your rock projects. I’ve also included my favorite tips for an easy peasy experience. While this activity is geared towards young children, rock painting ideas are fun to do with the whole family. In the past, both kids and adults have enjoyed this activity. There is no wrong way to make cute painted rocks!

Best Rock Painting Supplies:

• Smooth rocks
• Washable Acrylic Paints
• Paintbrushes
• Buckets/Containers
• Palettes
• Towels/Napkins
• Sealant Spray

Here are the materials you’ll need for the best experience to ensure you and your students have fun painting rocks.

Smooth rocks: Make sure you grab flat rocks to leave plenty of surface area to paint. You’ll want to also make sure they are clean and dry. You can simply use a hose to rinse them and let them sit outside to air dry. Here are the exact rocks I use for this activity! 

Washable acrylic paints: The kind of paint you purchase does matter! I typically choose washable acrylic paints with vibrant colors. Using bright colors helps to make the rocks even more noticeable if you decide to place them around the school or park.

Paintbrushes: Honestly, I use paintbrushes from the dollar store mostly! You don’t have to be fancy with your paintbrushes, but you will need multiple sizes. As long as your rocks are smooth stones, you shouldn’t have an issue with using the brush to get the paint on. 

Buckets/Containers: These will be needed to rinse the brushes. For easy cleanup, I add a little water in a bucket and as the students get finished I have them add the brushes to the bucket.

Palette: You can get these palettes here I prefer these over disposable plates because they’re reusable. That way you can use them from year to year. The palettes are used to hold the paint.

Towels or napkins: High key important with little ones and paint! 

Sealant spray (optional): Try this sealant spray to help fast dry your rocks in 10 minutes or less. It works incredibly well!

Posca Paint Pens (optional): If paint isn’t your thing, or you don’t want anything to mess up, these paint markers are a perfect choice! These water-based paint pens are non-toxic and help to make those intricate designs older kids/adults may be looking for. If you’re in the classroom and don’t have time for layers of paint, but still want your students to be able to celebrate Earth Day by making cute rocks, this may be the best way! they are also great for adding black lines for outlining or polka dots! 

Step-by-Step Guide For Painting Rocks:

If you’re making these rock painting ideas into a lesson, start the day with a discussion about Earth Day! Consider reading the book 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh or I Can Save The Earth! by Alison Inches.

Set-Up

Are you doing this activity outside or inside? Decide where you would like to set up and set up the station ahead of time. Lay out the paint on the palettes so they’re ready to go! You can have the students select their rock or choose it for them. Be sure to explain to the students that rocks come in different shapes and sizes.

Planning and Sketching

Have your students practice how they would like to design their rock. They can sketch out ideas on paper so they have an idea of what they would like to put on their rock. Maybe they’d like adorable woodland animals or owl rocks. Perhaps they’d like to make a cute rock with Star Wars and the saying “may the FOREST be with you”. The possibilities of this great craft are endless. Be sure to set a time for this because some students could take the entire day with the planning portion. In my Teachers Pay Teachers lesson plan, I’ve added some helpful Earth Day imagery to help with this portion of planning. 

Brainstorming Environmental Messages

Since this is Earth Day, we’ll want to brainstorm some environmental messages. What messages do your students want to share with others? This may depend on the final destination for the rocks. Are they going home? Around the classroom? Around the school or playground? Will they be given as gifts?

To help, I’ve written a list of 25 environmental messages for Earth Day. 

1. “Save Our Planet”
2. “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”
3. “Protect Our Oceans”
4. “Plant Trees, Save Bees”
5. “Love Your Earth”
6. “Every Drop Counts – Save Water”
7. “Go Green, Keep It Clean”
8. “Breathe Easy – Plant More Trees”
9. “Be a Planet Protector”
10. “Wildlife Needs Our Help”
11. “Say No to Plastic”
12. “Earth Day Every Day”
13. “Keep Our Air Clean”
14. “Nature is Our Home – Respect It”
15. “Celebrate Nature”
16. “Protect Our Pollinators”
17. “Conserve Energy, Conserve Life”
18. “Protect Our Endangered Species”
19. “Care for Coral Reefs”
20. “Think Green, Act Green”
21. “Clean Seas, Clean Skies”
22. “Leave No Trace”
23. “Earth Heroes Unite”
24. “Protect Our Wildlife Habitats”
25. “The Future is Green”

Here are some rock painting ideas for images to include on your rocks

1. Earth
2. Trees
3. Recycling Symbol
4. Flowers
5. Ocean Waves
6. Mountain Landscapes
7. Bees
8. Woodland Animals
9. Arctic Animals
10. Raindrops
11. Wind Turbines
12. Butterfly Garden
13. Stars and Moon
14. Clouds
15. Ladybugs
16. Sun
17. Turtles
18. Plants
19. Birds
20. Peace sign

Time to Paint!

Depending on which rocks you choose, it may be helpful to prep each of the rocks with white paint. That way the students have a blank canvas to start with. This is optional and not necessary, but something to consider. Have the students grab the best paint and get started! Remind the students to paint as much of the rock as they can. Allow your little rock artists to have a great time with their rock art ideas. Remember to show the Environmental messages and imagery from the Teachers Pay Teachers lesson for inspiration.

Drying

Allow the rocks to dry or use the spray sealer.

Discussion

Depending on the age of the students, have a sharing circle where students talk about what they designed and what it means. Gather the students and ask them about their favorite part of the activity. Discuss the colors they used and any stories they created through their rock paintings. Encourage students to talk to their families about what they learned and discuss ways they can be kind to the Earth at home. Gather the students and ask them about their favorite part of the activity. Discuss the colors they used and any stories they created through their rock paintings.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post about creative rock painting ideas with environmental messages for Earth Day.

You don’t have to be a seasoned artist to come up with great ideas for painting a fun rock! Allow your students to get creative and use this as a fun way to encourage others to care for the Earth! 

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