How to Paint Rocks for Outside Fun!

The pandemic has certainly required parents to get creative when it comes to fun, affordable, stay-at-home projects to do with the family. We found one that’s fun, easy, and beautiful – painting rocks! Get our tips on how to paint rocks for outside fun, making them bright and weatherproof.

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We first got the idea to paint rocks when we saw our local playdate groups hiding newly painted rocks in parks, playgrounds, and other outdoor public areas. They’re adorable and so creative! But we also had the challenge of weather-proofing our rocks so they wouldn’t get ruined by rain, or sun exposure. So we looked some stuff up.

We then got together a little gift set for our kids which had everything we needed (after doing lots of reading of course!).

What You Need to Paint Rocks for Outside Fun

We recommend that you use acrylic paint on the rocks themselves (don’t worry, we’ll do step-by-step here in a little bit). We got these paint pens after reading reviews on Amazon and overall we love them! The caps stay on when not in use and the colors are bright as you can see with our color test image.

These paint pens do have to be stored horizontally so keep an eye on that box when you put them away!

We also got a few larger containers of acrylic paint to be the “base” colors which I recommend unless your rocks are naturally really light, evenly toned. We got black and white for that.

You can play around with foam brushes to help you paint the base colors, or you can just try to dip the rocks and let them dry. We laid them out on a cookie sheet with parchment paper so they wouldn’t stick.

Finally, I recommend a clear coat acrylic that you spray on once the rocks are dry. This will help protect them against the elements if the rocks are going to live outside.

This isn’t necessary but we did love this book for rock painting ideas. It’s part of the gift set we made our kids – in fact we had them open this first! – and they love looking at it months later for inspiration. Check out Rock Painting for Kids here – my son wants to make a rock restaurant next! Rock burgers, anyone?

How to Paint Rocks for Outside Fun

Note that the full process, if you want to clean and then waterproof the rocks, takes a few different drying phases. Be sure to let kids know that the rocks may not be completed in one session, but that’s ok! You can start new rocks with each “batch” that you do.

First, wash the rocks. Get all the dirt and gunk off of them so that the paint sticks to the rock itself. Let air dry. (If the rock is really absorbent with lots of holes, and seems to “soak up” the water like pumice or a sponge, I wouldn’t recommend painting on it as it will just absorb the paint.)

Then do a base coat of acrylic paint if you want. We do this with rocks that are smooth but darker, or unevenly colored. Let dry.

Then use your acrylic paint pens to decorate your rock the way that you want! You can also use a regular pencil to draw on the rock as a template.

Hint: Always do the lightest color first, then go gradually darker, to not ruin your paint pens. Example: I wanted to do a bee so I made a yellow oval, then did the black stripes and antennae over the yellow.

Finally, spray on the clear matte acrylic coating if you want to make your rock water- and UV-proof. This stuff is stinky and will stain things like flooring and concrete (think porch or sidewalk) so spray outside, and use a large disposable surface like a flattened box to spray on. This stuff will take a few hours to dry.

Tah-dah! Now you have an adorable, one-of-a-kind decoration or gift. Hide them in your community, give them away, or keep them around your home and yard. I bet you’ll be looking for new ideas soon!

I hope you enjoy learning how to paint rocks for outside fun with your family! Let me know in the comments what you like to create, and check out our video demo below!