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40 Playful Ways to Teach Young Kids About Rocks

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We had so much fun with our R is for Rocks theme! You can see how we combined our activities into a full week of learning for home preschool or preschool classrooms in our rock theme lesson plan set. I love when themes take something that kids see in their everyday lives and allow them to explore the material in different ways.  I can’t wait to share some of our activities with you soon.

Before I do, I wanted to share a collection of some playful ways to teach young kids about rocks. These are some activities available around the web, and they are mainly focused on teaching kids ages 2-6 about rocks in a hands-on way.

Sensory and Fine Motor Activities

Have your kids go Hunting for Diamonds in a Rock Sensory Bin! This is a fun sensory activity and is super cheap to set up.

Add some noise to your rock fun and Make a “Rock” Band! This is a great way to explore the sense of hearing.

This awesome Buildable Rock Slime activity will allow your kids to play with slime and stack rocks!

“What’s inside them?” is a common question about rocks. What better way to find out than to see for yourself in this Rock Demo Science Investigation!

Learning About Types of Rocks

With just some crayons and aluminum foil, you can create your own Crayon Rocks! Perfect to teach about the different types of rock formation.

A Rock Collection is a great way to show kids a huge variety of rocks! They’ll love picking them up anywhere they go.

Learn how about rocks on other planets with this Fizzing Moon Rocks Activity.

Explore rocks with your kids by following this Kindergarten Science Unit on Rocks.

This easy Sorting and Classifying Rocks science activity is the perfect way to dive into geology for kids.

Collect some rocks and make your own Rock Exploration Center that your kids will love!

Learning Using Rocks

These Letter Stones are a great way to merge learning about rocks with learning your ABCs!

Create Alpha Rocks Using Rub-On Letters, and practice spelling!

With just some rocks and an old egg carton, you can make a unique sorting game in this ABC Rock Fun craft.

Practice fine motor skills and writing with this Free Printable Pet Rock Writing activity!

Make Story Stones with your kids, and create a story using rocks!

Did you know you can make new rocks at home? This Make a Rock Science Experiment is a fun way to explore rock formation!

This Arctic Art from the Inuit art project is the perfect way to learn about rocks in the arctic!

This fun Number Rocks Math Activity is a great way to start teaching math skills to little learners.

Use rocks and dice to make this creative Rock and Roll Place Value Math Activity.

Learn about the different seasons with this Sorting Seasons Activity with Stones and Rocks activity.

Rock Art Activities

Your kids can make their own Garden Treasure Hunt with Painted Rocks for a fun outdoor art activity.

If you are looking for an easy rock project, your kids will love putting together this Easy Rock Mosaic.

If you’re looking for a way to use the rocks your kids bring home, have your kids Build Towers Using Stones.

This Painting with Rocks Activity is a fun and unique art project your kids will love.

Learn about the constellations using art with this Constellation Art activity.

Your kids will love this fun and noisy way to paint, without all the mess, in this Rock Rumble-Shake Painting with Rocks activity.

Create a fun painting using everyday rocks without making a mess with this Tumble Painting with Rocks art project.

Get inspired by nature with this Pictured Rock Inspired Painting activity.

This adorable Rock Creatures craft is so fun and easy to make.

This fun Ladybug Rock Craft is so easy to make, and your kids will love it!

Make your own kid-friendly cactus with this DIY Rock Cactus Craft.

Make your own family portrait with this Rock Painting Family activity.

Your kids will love making these adorable Easy Painted Mouse Rocks.

Your kids will love making these Painted Turtle and Fish Rocks for the garden or to play with.

Learn how to make Crystallized Beach Rocks with this fun and fascinating activity

Rock Cooking

If your kids loved the book “Stone Soup,” they will look forward to Making Stone Soup with this fun activity.

You can keep learning, even during your lunch break! Have fun in the kitchen and Make Different Foods to Illustrate the Different Types of Rocks!

Learn about how igneous rocks form in this easy and fun Edible Igneous Rock Activity.

Your kids will love learning about rocks and the rock cycle with this Rock Cycle with Chocolate Rocks activity.

Learn about rock formations and layers with this fun Edible Sedimentary Rock Activity.

Playful Ways to Teach Young Kids About Rocks

The next post in this series will include some of my preschoolers’ favorite books about rocks. While you are waiting for that post, go ahead and start collecting some rocks! Anything will do…nothing fancy. We’re going to be putting those rocks to good use soon. And don’t forget to let your kids give their rock collection a good wash. This was an activity my kids went back to over and over again during our rock theme!

Wash Your Rock Collection

Do you have any other ideas or activities related to rocks? I would love for you to share them in the comments.

Find more rock ideas on my Letter R Pinterest Board.

Get a full week of playful rock theme ideas!

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

Get Your Copy

Home Preschool  Rocks Theme Lesson Plans

Preschool Classroom Rocks Theme Lesson Plans

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Allison

    We are right in the middle of a rock unit for my son’s kindergarten lessons. We’ve done several of these things, and I’m excited to see many new ideas! Thanks for sharing. I’m featuring this on The Sunday Showcase.

    Reply

    • Shaunna

      Thanks so much for featuring this list. I’m glad the timing is helpful, too! You might also enjoy some of the other rock ideas we have coming soon.

      Reply

  9. iGameMom

    Thanks for sharing. It is a wonderful resource. The crayon rock experiments brings the boring science concepts to toddler level, amazing. I started host Mom’s library linky with True Aim. I am going to feature this on iGameMom.com on Wednesday, and on my Pinterest Kids Science Activity board (http://ow.ly/iHdep). Thanks again for putting together the list of activities.

    Reply

    • Shaunna

      I thought the crayon rock experiments were very creative, too. I look forward to checking out your features on Wednesday, and I appreciate you adding this post to your Pinterest Board…you’ve got some great activities there.

      Reply

  11. Julie

    You have tons of creative ideas. I like the crayon rocks. We read the book Rocks in His Head by Carol Hurst. It’s a cute children’s book about a man who ends up working at a museum during the Great Depression.

    Reply

    • Shaunna

      I hadn’t heard of that book before, but I just read a little about it. I’ll have to remember it next time we are learning about rocks. Thanks for the suggestion!

      Reply

    • Shaunna

      Thanks! My girls are little rock collectors, too. We really enjoyed this theme. I hope you and DD can try out some of the activities.

      Reply

    • Shaunna

      Thanks! I hope the ideas will help you incorporate some things all of your kids might enjoy learning together. There’s more coming in the series, too.

      Reply

  14. Valerie

    Wow! This is an impressive round-up. I will have to come back and check every link! LOL I remember loving rocks as a child and although I’ve included them a few times while teaching my son, I am always looking for more ideas and it looks like there are TONS out there! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

    • Shaunna

      Thanks! I enjoyed putting it together…so much great inspiration! I love building our play and learning activities on themes the kids are naturally interested in. And when the items come from nature it also makes our activities inexpensive or free which is another bonus! Hope you’ll come back to check out the rest of this series throughout the month.

      Reply

    • Shaunna

      Thanks! I know my oldest daughter would love to hunt for diamonds like you did in your activity! Thanks for sharing your idea 🙂

      Reply

  19. Ness @ One Perfect Day

    What a brilliant round up of ideas Shaunna! Thank you for including our garden treasure hunt with painted rocks. I can’t wait to try some of the other ideas here. I’ve pinned this to my “Exploring Our World” board on Pinterest.

    Reply

    • Shaunna

      Thanks so much for allowing me to share your idea. It definitely makes me wish I had a garden, but I think we can still incorporate the concept into our play. I think you’ll like the other activities that we have coming throughout the month of March!

      Reply

    • Shaunna

      Thanks so much. I loved how your activity incorporated history and art! We’ll have even more ideas for you to pin throughout the month of March.

      Reply

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