Painted Rocks are Taking Grand Rapids, and the Nation, by Storm

Local Rock Paint & Find Clubs Include Grand Rapids Rocks

This Sweet Project is for the Kid in all of Us

Have you heard about the new painted-rock craze? I had seen a couple of brief references to it, but hadn’t paid much attention- until my daughters found some painted rocks last week. We were camping in Montague, MI and the girls were playing on the playground at our campground when they discovered three little painted rocks and brought them to me.

I noticed they had the words “White Lake FB” written on them, so I looked it up on Facebook and found a page dedicated to these rocks.

The description of the group reads: Paint rocks, post pics of your rocks on fb, hide them in public places around town. On the flip side, hunt for rocks, post pics on fb, then relocate. FUN!

SEE ALSO: 101 Free Things to do With Kids in Michigan

My Kids Loved Joining in on the Fun

I took a picture of my kids holding the rocks at the park and posted the photo and a little message on the Facebook page, saying how excited they were to find the rocks and how they looked forward to re-hiding the rocks for someone else. We got a response almost immediately thanking us for playing – and even hinting that there might be more rocks hidden near the playground!

My girls decided to hide two of the rocks within the campground and then chose to bring home one of the rocks to hide somewhere in Grand Rapids. As I did a little research on these “rock groups” I learned that while some groups like to keep their rocks hidden locally (and sometimes organize games or prizes to go along with finding the rocks), other groups like to see how far their rocks can travel and love to see the posts when their rocks are found in other states, or even overseas!

There are quite a few painted rock groups on Facebook and it seems there are more being formed all the time. In my quick search of “Michigan Rock Groups” I found over 25 groups in Michigan. Some of these groups include:

• Southeast MICHIGAN ROCKS!
• Southwest Michigan Rocks!
• Michigan Rocks!
• Southern Michigan Rocks!
•  Northwest Michigan ROCKS!!
•  Holland Rocks Michigan
•  Northern Michigan Rocks
• Mid-Michigan Painted Rocks 
• Grand Rapids Rocks! #GRrocks.

SEE ALSO: Go out and Try Geocaching in Grand Rapids

The overall idea is pretty simple. Find some flat rocks (you can buy them at crafts stores or just look outside!) and use acrylic paint to paint whatever message or design you’d like, then seal it with a clear urethane finish, patio paint or Mod Podge. Be sure to include the name of your Facebook group so that you can see when someone finds your rocks! If you’d like, you can post clues about where you have hidden your rocks.

My kids were so excited by their discovery and loved the whole idea, so they immediately sat down in our camper and started decorating rocks! Even my 11-year-old son started coming up with ideas… He wants to paint rocks with NFL logos and send people to a Facebook page where they can share what their favorite football team is!

I’m not sure where the idea of painted rocks originated, but I personally think it’s a fabulous idea! It’s such a simple way to include people of all ages and from all walks of life in expressing creativity while spreading joy to others. It just makes you want to go grab a paintbrush right now, doesn’t it?

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