Our family loves camping. It's such a great way to unplug from the busy-ness of life. Plus, it's not nearly as expensive as some other summertime getaways. Most of the time, we let the just kids play and explore. However, there are those moments when the kids get a little antsy -- when the grown-ups need some downtime, while meals are cooking, when it's too hot to leave the shade, or while they're waiting for the next fun activity (like swimming and fishing at the lake). It's those moments when we break out out the paint and googly eyes and make our favorite camping craft: rock monsters!
{I have to mention that I can take absolutely no credit (as much as I'd like to) for the cute banner pictured above -- my talented sister-in-law made it for our family camp-out a couple weeks ago.}
To make the rock monsters, you simply need some paint (I've used acrylic craft paint and washable Crayola kids' paint), brushes, glue, and plenty of googly eyes. Making rock monsters is fun on a variety of levels: searching for the right rocks, finding accessories for the monsters (in the form of grass, leaves, bark, etc.), deciding what they'll look like, and then bringing the rock monsters to life.
The thing I love about this craft is that it's fun for all ages. We've been making these at camp-outs for years. As you can see in the pictures above, my six-year-old, two-year-old, and 32-year-old all got in on the rock monster-making action. At our last camp-out, we also got the cousins in on it. Everyone was quiet and busy for a while.
All of the creations turned out so well, each with funny personalities and lots of character.
First, my two-year-old's rock monster (this was the first time he's made one). He particularly liked sticking the googly eyes all over the rock.
My six-year-old made a bunch of rock monsters. They're so full of personality -- they crack me up!
I always look forward to what my husband comes up with. He made these and the punk-rock one (ha ha -- get it?) at the beginning of the post. I seriously love all of my family's rock creations. It's amazing what a couple of googly eyes can do to an inanimate object, you know?
We've got quite a collection of these rock monsters -- we bring them home and put them on display on our porch, a sort of memento of our camping trips throughout the summer. What can I say? This camp craft...(wait for it)...rocks.
