Tuesday 4 February 2014

Playing with rocks


I am always looking for ways to incorporate natural materials into my program at school. I always have a basket of pebbles on hand for the children to use in the block area, on the wonder table, light table or in the outdoor area.


I have painted pictures on pebbles previously for the children to use as story prompts or to add to play situations.



LADY BIRD PAINTED PEBBLES
This is a simple activity using pebbles that you can make yourself to help your child learn their numbers.


Paint a red circle on each pebble.



Paint the lady birds head and wings.


Paint the dots on the wings and the corresponding number on the back of the lady bird.




These pebbles can be used to help your child with their counting, to help them with number recognition, or they could be added to the blocks or construction area for children to play with.

Have a go at making your own or contact me if you live locally and would like a set.
Niccola


7 comments:

  1. I really love the story pebbles (what beautiful art you created on them!) And those ladybug number matchers are a great idea! My boys are a but young for number matching, but I think my toddler might enjoy some rock play in other ways, thanks for the ideas :)

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  2. Love love love this! I've been wanting to do something similar for a while but never found the right kind of (flatish) rocks! x

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  3. These are beautiful! I love the ladybug counting rocks especially - what a fun and adorable way to work with numbers!

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  4. These are BEAUTIFUL! They remind me of the book I just reviewed called "Love You When" which has pages and pages of painted rocks. http://www.sparkandpook.com/2014/02/06/love-books-we-love/
    It inspired me to want to paint some rocks for my toddler, but I'm not painter. Your ladybug activity looks simple enough for this not-so-crafty mama to do. Do you get your stones from anywhere in particular?

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    1. Hi Tiffany. Thank you so much for your lovely comment and for the link - I can't wait to check out the book. It sounds really interesting. I buy my rocks locally and love to experiment with different colours and textures. The smooth rocks are not as good to paint on as the paint tends to scratch off after a while. Slightly course textured rocks are better. I hope you have a go. Niccola

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  5. I love this activity! I've got a preschooler that picks up rocks everywhere we go. Now I know what to do with them!! I'm featuring this at tomorrow's After School Linky Party on my blog. Stop by and share more of your great ideas!

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  6. So fun!! We love story rocks. I have Mod Podged stickers onto rocks for ours since my painting skills are not great! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!

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