Pet Rocks and Their Habitats

So I saw this post from a blogger I occasionally follow the other day sharing about an activity she did with her kids-  making Pet Rocks.  They were actually pretty stinking cute, and although the concept is kind of ridiculous.  I was like "eh...why not!?"  So yesterday when we went on a walk I told Abbie about what I wanted to do, and encouraged her to collect a few rocks, pine cones, etc while we were out so we could make our Pet Rocks and their habitat.  She was beyond excited!  I had planned to just have her gather the materials yesterday, and then work on the project today, but she was so excited to get started that she was basically begging me after the walk to get started painting them.  So I let her.  She painted and named them-  Mommy, Daddy, Abigail, Alex, Lilly, Nana, Papa, and Josie (Nana and Papa's dog :)  I added eyes and mouths.

We glued down a few pine cones.  Made them a bed out of a Kleenex box.  Made some bushes out of bunched up coffee filters she had painted green, and we had our Pet Rock habitat!  Last night she tucked them into their bed, covered them up with a doll blanket and requested we tiptoe out of the room and speak in whispers.  This morning she ran into the kitchen and announced "Everybody's up!"  Sure enough when I got out to the kitchen, she had everyone awake and out of bed.  The post I shared above, was done by an 8 year old, so ours is the 4 year old version in a house that lacked some of the same craft supplies like the fake grass etc, but Abbie didn't care.  She was insistent today though that we get "Alex" (the rock) a high chair to sit in.  I was racking my brain trying to think of how we could create that....all I could envision was a popsicle stick, glue gun experiment gone bad and coming out on the other side with badly burned fingers.  Then I realized.  Abbie is creative.  I could ask her to help me solve the problem.  So I asked "What do we have in our house that we could make a high chair for your pet rocks out of?  I ended up suggesting legos because she absolutely loves creating new things from her legos and off she ran.....I helped her create the lego version of a "high chair" and she then proceeded to create a bench, and stairs for her Pet Rocks.

Making Pet Rock furniture out of legos-  high chairs, benches, and staircases!

Here they are all snug in their bed for the night.  

The rock she picked out for me is green and literally makes me look like I am a rock frog, but I'm cool with that.  She has been having so much fun with them all day today!

Cheapest activity ever.... you can literally create your Pet Rocks and Habitat from leftovers around the house.  A shoe box is a great size.  I happened to have a larger box on hand.  We then glued an empty kleenex box in it for the bed.  Placed scrapbook paper on the walls to add some color.  Gathered rocks, and pine cones from outside.  Rocks were painted with paint we had on hand so our cost was literally $0, and I got one well entertained really active child out of the deal!  It's a win win!

No don't ya'll go judging me thinking "Frickin crazy pinterest mom, who has time for that!"  Cause really I don't, and pinterest and I have a love hate relationship, but I have found for as often as trying to do an organized project with the kids drives me crazy....these crazy projects always make the best memories, and I don't want my kids to remember me as the mom who never tried new things, who never played with them, who kept the house clean, and cooked all the time (though I do need to do those things), I would much rather be the mom who took time to try new things even when they fail and make a big mess, because those are the things we will remember.

Many Blessings,