A fun and easy favorite for my kids – Saran Wrap Rock Painting (a.k.a. Squish Rock Painting)
Fun Crafts
Fall is a great time of year to craft. In Oklahoma, Fall brings lots of wind and cooler temperatures. There are many days that we would not spend a lot of time outside or we would blow away. The land here is very flat and treeless. There is nothing to stop that wind that comes “sweeping down the plains.” We are always excited to find fun activities that can be done indoors.
I have a granddaughter who just turned four. She is very smart and creative, but not necessarily neat. I have had her paint several rocks with me. Every time the paint is more on her and the table than on the rock, but that is just how it is when you are four. I am always looking for something that we can do together that is fun and easy. Easy clean-up is a plus too.
My daughter came across this saran wrap rock painting technique on YouTube. It seemed like the perfect rock painting project for my granddaughter and me. I already had all of the supplies at home, so we gathered everything up and got to work.
Multi-colored Splatter Design
The idea behind this project is to use plastic wrap as the paintbrush. You contain the paint and the rock in a packet and move it around with your fingers. This does not require a lot of pre-planning. The hardest part is picking out what colors to use. You definitely need to use more than one. For this particular rock, I used three, but you could use more or less depending on your preferences.
Choosing & Priming your Rock
Rocks are everywhere. But not all rocks are ideal for painting. You can go on a stroll through your neighborhood or park and pick up a few rocks. However, I have found that most of those can be too small or not have much of a flat surface. Purchasing rocks is also an option. You can find them at craft stores, home improvement stores, landscaping companies, or even order them online.
I decided to use a larger rock for this project. It was smoother on one side than on the other. Since this is not an art project rock, any shape would do. I would suggest avoiding a rock that is not flat on the main side. The more angles the rock has the more you will have to work the paint around it.
I chose not to add a primer coat of paint to this rock. Normally, I would paint either a white or gray back ground, especially on a darker colored rock. In this case, I felt good about just putting the paint straight on the rock. It is lighter in color and not very porous, so it should hold the paint well without a primer.
Here is some more information about priming rocks –
Design Examples
Here is an example of squish painting from the Rock Painting Girl. She chose some bold colors to use on the rock and added some shadowed trees once it was dry.
I found a similar technique at 123 Home School 4 Me. Although she did not use a rock, it is a great example of using squish painting to make mess-free fun for your little ones.
https://www.123homeschool4me.com/squish-painted-sun-craft_77
Saran Wrap Rock Painting Technique
Start out by cutting a piece of saran wrap. You are going to wrap the plastic all the way around the rock, so be sure to cut a good-sized piece. It should be at least twice the surface of the rock.
I lined up the rock at the top edge of the saran wrap, to give me an idea of how far I can go out with the paint. I used a paint that had a fine squeeze tip, but any acrylic paint will work. I started with the Metallic Turquoise Blue and put some paint dots randomly on the saran wrap. I was careful not to make my paint area bigger than the rock.
Then, I added Metallic Violet. Keep some space in between your paint dots.
Next, I added some Metallic Pink.
Place the rock, face down, in the paint and wrap the plastic around the back and encase the whole rock.
Using your fingers, move the paint around until the entire face of the rock is covered with paint. Once you have covered the rock, begin peeling off the saran wrap. I placed the rock on a paper plate to dry and discarded the used plastic wrap.
Dry time will vary depending on the kind of paint you used and how thick you put it on. I let mine dry overnight before adding my design.
Nighttime Mountain Design
This rock is lovely on its own, but my goal here was to create a night sky with these colors and add a shadowed design in black paint. I began by using a fine-tipped black paint marker. Paint markers need to be primed before you used them. With the cap on, shake the marker several times. Then, remove the cap and press the tip of the marker on a scrap piece of paper. Pump the marker up and down until the paint is flowing. Be sure to periodically check the flow of the paint
I sketched the outline of my first mountain to the far left of the rock.
Keep working your way to the right, adding more mountain tops and filling in the space with a black paint marker. Round out the tops of the mountains a bit so it does not look like a line of zig zags.
To start the sky, I added some white dots using the tip of a white paint marker.
Then I added another layer of stars using a silver paint marker.
I began on the moon by filling in a small white circle in the top left of the rock. I also took the silver paint marker and added some shadowing to the black mountains since that paint was dry.
For shading the moon, once the white was dry I added a couple of drops of gray from a paint marker and smudged it with a paper towel. I repeated this process until my moon was shadowed how I wanted it to be. If you add in too much gray, go back and smudge in a few drops of white.
Now let everything dry completely before sealing.
Sealing the Saran Wrap Painted Rock
I decided to seal the squish rock using a spray acrylic sealer like 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 rock on some sort of 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.
Mess-Free Fun
My granddaughter loved her new saran wrap painted rock. It did not spend a lot of time in my rock garden. She promptly took it home to enjoy with her mom and dad.
My other children told me it looks like a Galaxy Rock. I’m sensing another project.
Top Take-Aways for Saran Wrap Rock Painting
1. Rock painting is fun for any age
2. This would be a great project to experiment with color combinations and patterns
3. If you don’t have plastic wrap, you could put the paint directly on the rock and use a food storage bag to move the paint around. This method is not exactly mess-free, but it is just as fun.
Happy painting!
loved this idea but could you put a picture of when you were swirling so we can see how you did that.