These strawberries may look good enough to eat… but they are actually rocks found outside on the ground! We turned them into strawberries to play along with our song Picked A Strawberry. Picked A Strawberry is filled with pretend play and another one of our favorite things – counting! These Strawberries Rocks are fun to make, but they also make excellent counters for counting practice, and for playing along with the song Picked A Strawberry. Let’s make some!
Things You’ll Need
- Rocks – we like rocks that are flatter and shaped a bit like a strawberry!
- Paintbrush
- Toothpicks
- Clearcoat or Mod Podge for a glossy protective coating
- Craft paint – we used the colors light and dark green, black, and yellow
- Acrylic paint – we used a shade called Pyrrole Red
- A quick note about acrylic paint: acrylic paint is more saturated with pigment which allows for better coverage and a more vibrant look. It’s the best paint to coat rocks with!
Steps
Once you’re found your rocks it’s time to prepare them for the paint. Wash and dry them well so the paint sticks properly. You can lay out a sheet of old newspaper to have the rocks dry on. Here’s a pro tip! Try using a hairdryer to speed along the process. This works for drying paint, too!
Start by painting one side of the rocks with your red acrylic paint. Once they are dry add a second coat. When all of the rocks have dried from the second count, flip them over and add another two layers of paint to the other side of the rock allowing drying in between layers. Now the rocks should be fully covered with the red paint.
Once your rocks are dry we can add in the details of the strawberry. To make the seeds, dip the tip of a toothpick into black paint and stamp tiny oval shapes to make a pattern of seeds on one side of the rock. Once dry, flip the rocks over and continue painting the pattern on the other side.
To add extra detail, repeat the same process again with yellow paint, making little dots on top of the black dots without completely covering them.
To make the stem, use a paintbrush and paint a green stem on the top of the strawberry starting with a lighter green color of paint.
Once the stem is dry, paint a darker shade of green on top of the stem leaving the edges of the lighter green showing.
Once everything is dry, add a final layer of clear gloss or Mod Podge to coat the rocks. This will make the rocks look shiny like juicy strawberries growing in the sun, and it will protect the rocks so they can be played with over and over again while still looking beautiful.
Now your rocks are ready to be admired and played with! Put on the song Picked A Strawberry and begin to play!
Place a number of strawberry rocks into a basket and have your little one count them. Hide them around the playroom to search for and collect. Pretend to pick them off a strawberry plant and wash them. See what pretend play fun your little ones can come up with using these easy and beautiful DIY strawberry rocks!
For more fun with fruit check out our Fruit Fun Crafty Play Set and the Caitie’s Classroom episode Fantastic Fruit!
