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!
Our pocket pets were first made in August 2012 and have been updated and republished for your convenience
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:
Ali says
August 15, 2012 at 4:11 amI 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.
Red Ted Art says
August 15, 2012 at 6:50 amAli – 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!!! 🙂
Creative Playhouse says
August 15, 2012 at 7:18 amOh my goodness, that is such a cute idea, my son will love it! Sharing and pinning! 🙂
Jennifer says
August 15, 2012 at 7:39 amThey are so sweet!
Red Ted Art says
August 15, 2012 at 7:58 amAwe thank you ladies! I can image that we will be making these again and again!
sunnymama says
August 15, 2012 at 11:10 amYour stone pets are so cute! Such a fun idea. 🙂
Red Ted Art says
August 15, 2012 at 11:46 amThank you 🙂 hope you get a chance to make some!
Fumiya says
August 15, 2012 at 11:57 amYour 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.
Red Ted Art says
August 15, 2012 at 1:05 pmI think the rocks would look LOVELY just using marker pens!
Jen Fischer says
August 15, 2012 at 2:23 pmI love these, and they totally gave me a stone idea for us to do!
Ellie says
August 15, 2012 at 6:50 pmI 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
Red Ted Art says
August 15, 2012 at 7:14 pmNo, you really can’t force them!! 🙂 and usually, the direction they take is so much more fun!!!
Love and Lollipops says
August 15, 2012 at 7:21 pmAAAH – I love these. How cute and sweet and FUN!!
Georgia 🙂
The fairy and the frog says
August 15, 2012 at 8:41 pmThese are so cute.
Red Ted Art says
August 15, 2012 at 9:04 pmThank you! 🙂
Mummy..Mummy..MUM!! says
August 15, 2012 at 9:40 pmThey are gorgeous Maggy!
Bethany @ No Twiddle Twaddle says
August 16, 2012 at 1:11 amThose are adorably cute. I love the bunny!
Kelly at Little Wonders' Days says
August 16, 2012 at 12:31 pmThese are insanely cute!
amy (mamascout) says
August 16, 2012 at 1:28 pmsweet! we love match box critters! will share!
amber says
August 16, 2012 at 2:54 pmSo creative!
Red Ted Art says
August 16, 2012 at 4:34 pmMuch appreciate you lovely comments! Thank you ladies 🙂
Heather@Creative Family Moments says
August 16, 2012 at 9:23 pmWe 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!
Red Ted Art says
August 17, 2012 at 6:57 amHeather – oh yes, I know, we started off with one small pack of Googly eyes…. and now I buy them in bulk!
Kristen S- Craft Gossip says
August 18, 2012 at 12:25 amI 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
Red Ted Art says
August 18, 2012 at 8:40 amOooh thank you so much for the feature! Much appreciated!
Sian says
August 18, 2012 at 8:47 amlove the little bird in his box – what an expression : )
Allison says
August 21, 2012 at 4:19 amOh 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.
Tracy says
August 23, 2012 at 10:24 pmWhy 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.
Red Ted Art says
August 24, 2012 at 6:44 amBrilliant 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.
Allison says
August 25, 2012 at 3:14 amI’m featuring these tomorrow at The Sunday Showcase. 🙂
Red Ted Art says
August 25, 2012 at 7:09 amAwe thank you!
Lisa says
March 23, 2013 at 9:02 pmMy 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…
ellen says
September 18, 2013 at 9:14 amSo sweet. I gonna trie to make this with my daugter.
Red Ted Art says
September 18, 2013 at 9:36 amWonderful, enjoy!
Linda Jones says
June 9, 2014 at 1:45 amThese are just the cutest crafts EVER!
Patricia says
September 7, 2016 at 11:21 amI love your ideas!