Toddlers and preschoolers will love playing with these homemade rainbow stacking stones. They’ll learn about colour order and size order, as they try to balance their stones on top of each other to build a perfect tower.
Recently the older kids in my daycare painted a bunch of beach stones in all the colours of the rainbow to make a fun stacking activity for the toddlers and preschoolers.
I was so tickled with how the project turned out. We love to craft with rocks, and I’d had it in my mind for quite some time to turn some of our beach rocks into a stacking activity for the little ones.
They love sifting through the collection of beach stones I keep on the deck, sorting and stacking them. I thought it would be fun to make a set of coloured stones that they would have to stack in just the right order to make a rainbow-coloured tower.
Remember those Fisher Price stacking rings (Amazon affiliate link) we had when we were kids? That’s what these stones remind me of.
This activity was super-easy to make and didn’t cost us a thing. The big kids had fun painting the stones, and the little ones will learn about colour order and size order when they’re stacking them up.
They’ll also require concentration and co-ordination to build their tower without knocking it over.
It’s a fun little activity for any playroom or classroom.
Pop over to CBC Parents to see how we made our cheerful stacking stones so you can make a set for your little ones!
Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Jackie
Hi these look really fun to make and play with. They look very shinny, did you put a coating on them after the paint?
Thanks
Jackie Currie
Yes, I always put a couple of coats of acrylic craft sealer on our painted rock projects to protect the paint from chipping and to give them a bit of sheen. Just be sure to let the sealer dry completely before second coating or before stacking/storing the rocks as they will stick together if they’re still tacky.
Carolyn
This looks really neat. What type of paint was used to paint the rocks? Thanks for sharing this idea.
Jackie Currie
We used acrylic craft paint, Carolyn.