My kids LOVE stones. We have stones stones stones everywhere. As you know we have already made Stone Ducks and Stone Monsters. And there is a Stone Family and some Stone Paperweights coming in my Kids Crafts Book. We needed something new. I wanted a craft that didn’t involved getting out the acrylics (acrylics are best for stones, and to be honest, I didn’t have the paint mess energy, for a couple of stone pets) AND, I wanted something that “persevered” the beauty of the original stone AND was easy for Red Ted to make. I thought if I cut, he could stick.
Though I would say this is an adorable Summer Crafts For Preschooler idea, you can of course make these all year round. But they are particularly lovely for popping into a school starters pocket at the beginning of the year to keep them company!
Stone Pets – Materials
- small,
- flat stones that fit in a matchbox,
- matchboxes,
- felt scraps,
- googly eyes,
- pva
How to make Stone Pet Matchbox Friends
I think they would have looked LOVELY with marker pen details for eyes and whiskers. We used the googley eyes to make it easier for Red Ted… but see below re his response!
1) Look at your stones and see if they remind you of anything – we had a perfect duck shape, it just needed a beak. The other two were fairly even, not “saying” much to me – but ideal for bunnies and mice.
2) Cut out felt bits and pieces – beaks, ears, tails and with the googly eyes glue on
3) Decorate your matchbox to suit! We made a little house for the mouse, a blue pond matchbox for the duck and a grassy one for the bunny. Done.
We made Pip Squeak’s first (i.e. the above). Well… I made Pip Squeak’s first (whilst she napped). Red Ted covered his matchboxes in red and green felt with dots.
Then.. I asked him what creatures he would like to make out of his stones. Uhm. “They are stone monsters, Mummy”. Ok, would you like to add some eyes? “No, Mummy”. Any decorations? “No, Mummy, they are fine the way they are”.
So. Red Ted has some rock pets, that live in a matchbox, that are indeed just rocks. Kind of cute. But not very exciting to show, I am afraid. Having said that, he adores the set I made and plays with them all the time…
So.
Today’s kids craft, is brought to you by ME. Sorry!
If you fancy more lovely Summer Crafts for Preschoolers check these out:
I love it – the stone animals and your son’s idea to leave the stones alone!! We play with stones a lot too, my youngest only ever wants to paint them blue… and it has to be blue. We have a lot of blue stones in our garden.
Ali – I agree.. his rocks in a box are quite cute. And I love the idea of having LOTS of blue stones in the garden. Your little man knows his stuff!!! 🙂
Oh my goodness, that is such a cute idea, my son will love it! Sharing and pinning! 🙂
They are so sweet!
Awe thank you ladies! I can image that we will be making these again and again!
Your stone pets are so cute! Such a fun idea. 🙂
Thank you 🙂 hope you get a chance to make some!
Your stone pets remind me of time I was an elementary school student. I drew its face directly on surface of a stone with magic markers. Unfortunately, I was not taught cute house for stone pet made with matchbox. Those pets were solid and durable and kept my memory for a long time.
I think the rocks would look LOVELY just using marker pens!
I love these, and they totally gave me a stone idea for us to do!
I love the honesty – you’ve just got to go with them when they have their own ideas don’t you! I frequently find the things I’ve planned to do with my girls change into something completely different. Thanks for sharing. Ellie
No, you really can’t force them!! 🙂 and usually, the direction they take is so much more fun!!!
AAAH – I love these. How cute and sweet and FUN!!
Georgia 🙂
These are so cute.
Thank you! 🙂
They are gorgeous Maggy!
Those are adorably cute. I love the bunny!
These are insanely cute!
sweet! we love match box critters! will share!
So creative!
Much appreciate you lovely comments! Thank you ladies 🙂
We love rock pets and we love googly eyes! Be warned though – once googly eyes adorned one thing, my kiddos found it hilarious to adorn everything with googly eyes and then hide them in random places to surprise their easily startled parents. (Secret: We love it!)
Fun, fun, fun!
Heather – oh yes, I know, we started off with one small pack of Googly eyes…. and now I buy them in bulk!
I completely know what you mean when you say that you didn’t have the ‘mess energy’ 🙂 This is a great alternative though, that children can still create and have fun!!
Just posted on Craft Gossip!
http://lessonplans.craftgossip.com/?p=6776
Oooh thank you so much for the feature! Much appreciated!
love the little bird in his box – what an expression : )
Oh my goodness, you have no idea! My three year old will go NUTS if I let him makes these. He will seriously be on cloud nine. I LOVE these, love love love. Thank you for linking up to The Sunday Showcase.
Why do you say “sorry” at the end of your post? This is fantastic! My roommate saves EVERYTHING. He has about 35 years worth of matchboxes stacked neatly in his room!!! I may be 54. I may not have grandkids. But I most definately will be making some of theses little homes for some pet rocks. I’m going to seal them with a little Thompsons water seal and set them out with my potted plants. I’ll have the Rocks poking their little heads out to spy on the neighbors! I showed the photo to my roommate and he laughed hartily. He never laughs out loud. Sometimes a chuckle. And it was NOT a laugh AT the idea. He LIKED them. He’ll have one to peep at him by dinner time. He’s 67.
Brilliant Tracy! LOVE the thought of these little guys all over your place!! Was just saying “sorry”, because I do try and get the kids to make things on my “kids crafts” posts and not me, the adult.. but of course, you are quite right… no reason why adults cannot enjoy this!!!! Thank you for your kind comment.
I’m featuring these tomorrow at The Sunday Showcase. 🙂
Awe thank you!
My kids are always bringing little stones home, think they’ll bring even more home when they’ve made these, they’ll love them, especially in their cute little boxes. Better stock up on googly eyes…
So sweet. I gonna trie to make this with my daugter.
Wonderful, enjoy!
These are just the cutest crafts EVER!
I love your ideas!