Easter Painted Rocks: Four Kid-Friendly Designs
Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. We have a few family traditions that I look forward to all year long. We always take a picture in the front yard by ‘the big tree’. Each year we color eggs. And every year I do a craft project with the kids. One year we made bunnies out of clothespins. Another time we glued cotton balls on construction paper to make a bunny. This year, we are going to paint rocks.
I decided it would be best to make my rocks ahead of time that way the kids have something to look at while they paint. For these rocks, I am going to show you how to make a chick, bunny, Easter egg, and cross scene.
Supply List for Easter Painted Rocks
• Smooth, flat Rocks
• Acrylic paint pens: assorted colors and widths
• Acrylic paint: assorted green colors
• Acrylic sealer: spray or paint on
• Watercolor pencils
• Paintbrushes
• Other supplies: table cloth, paper plate, pencil
Choosing & Priming Your Easter Painted Rocks
Rocks are pretty easy to come across. Sometimes, you can find them in your own yard or on a stroll through the park. You can find them at craft stores, home improvement stores, landscaping companies, or even order them online. The ones that I am using for this project were purchased at Hobby Lobby. I found them in the mosaics section.
The four rocks I chose were about 2 to 3 inches tall and had a flat surface. I put a primer coat of paint on three of rocks before starting with the design. A primer coat helps to fill in holes, it provides coverage when your rock is a darker color and will help the paint for your design adhere to the rock better.
Here is some more information on priming rocks if you would like to read further.
How do you prepare rocks for rock painting? (rockrembrandt.com)
The majority of this project is done with paint markers. Paint markers are a great way to apply paint with precision. They also dry quickly so you can move from color to color and not have as much wait time. If you are new to using paint markers, please see this article to read further. https://rockrembrandt.com/8-paint-pens-for-rock-painting/
Easter Painted Rocks Design 1: Cross Scene
This rock is great for those kids who might make a big mess with regular acrylic paint and a brush. Watercolor pencils are very easy to use and very forgiving. Let’s see how they work. First, I picked my lightest colored rock. I filled in the majority of the rock with sunset colors; orange, red, and yellow. You do not have to color the bottom portion of the rock, but if you do it is not a big deal.
Next, take a thin paint brush and dip it in water. Use the wet brush to smear the colors together. The watercolor pencils will run and have a watercolor paint effect. They are so fun to use and the colors look great on rocks.
Once the watercolor has dried, I took a black paint marker and filled in the bottom of the rock. I made a hill shape. Using a yellow paint marker I make a setting sun behind the hill.
To finish, I added three crosses on the hill.
This rock would make a fun Sunday School project.
Easter Painted Rocks Design 2: Chick
Spring chicks are everywhere at Easter time. We have a couple of farm and ranch stores where I live and my kids love to go look at the new chicks and bunnies, even though I would never actually let them take one home. A painted chick rock is the next best thing.
I started this rock by painting a yellow oval, right in the center.
Then I used an orange paint marker to add the feet and beak. I used a black paint marker to add the eyes and outline the feet and beak.
Next, I used a white paint marker to add some shading to the chick’s body and eyes.
Lastly, I added some white polka dots to the body of the chick using a paint marker.
This chick is so darling. I think any child would love to find him in their Easter basket.
Easter Painted Rocks Design 3: Bunny Silhouette
I did not want to make this bunny too difficult for a child, so I decided to stick with a silhouette. The drawing is very simple and makes a great looking rock. First, I primed the entire front of the rock with baby pink acrylic paint. I used a pencil to sketch the outline of a bunny.
Using a white paint marker, I filled in the bunny shape.
To give the rock a finishing touch, I used several colors of paint markers and simply dotted around the bunny shape.
This bunny is ready to deliver some Easter eggs!
Easter Painted Rocks Design 4: Easter Egg
Easter and eggs go hand in hand. My kids love decorating eggs and hiding them in the yard. Get creative with this one. Each egg is different and a masterpiece of its own kind. I started by priming the rock with metallic paint over the whole front. Then I began my design using a white paint marker. Let’s see how the design progresses. I started with dots and a straight line at the top.
Then I added a section of triangles.
I added a swirly line and a straight line to mark off the next section.
Lastly, I added more dots and straight lines to finish the rock.
Let your imagination run wild. You could do absolutely anything on an Easter egg rock.
Easter Painted Rocks – Sealing the Rocks
I decided to seal the Easter rocks using a spray acrylic sealer from ModPodge. I made sure to do this step outside. Spray sealer can give off some strong fumes and you don’t want to have that linger inside the house. I set the rocks on a protective surface so I didn’t get the sealer everywhere. Using a paper plate or plastic table cloth works perfectly for this step. I sprayed a light coat of sealer and let it dry. Be sure to follow the package instructions on your sealer.
Easter Painted Rocks
These rocks were all fun and easy. Painted rocks are a great way to put you in a festive holiday mood. Who wants to hunt eggs when we could hunt some hand-painted rocks?
Easter Painted Rocks – Top Take-Aways
1. Holiday rocks can go on display any time of year. They are fun to hide and even more fun to find. Where do you like to hide rocks?
2. What other designs can you think of for Easter rocks? Maybe try a basket or different designs on Easter eggs.
3. Watercolor pencils are a great way to add color to a rock without making a big mess.
Inspiration for my Easter Painted Rocks
For further inspiration, check out these links to other great Easter painted rocks.
Angela at Projects with Kids shares some great ideas for Easter egg rocks.
https://www.projectswithkids.com/easter-egg-rocks/
Rock Street Art has several Easter designs featured on their blog.
https://rockstreet-art.com/blogs/whats-new/tagged/easter
Amanda shared some cute and easy chicks at Crafts by Amanda.
https://craftsbyamanda.com/painted-rock-chicks/
Happy painting!