Fun thing to do with your kid: craft Word Rocks

Fifteen-year old Antonio Arèas came up with the idea of Word Rocks: cute little rocks with a small quote that travel around the world. They’re meant to let others know they’re not alone. Antonio’s rocks became a huge project, and you can be a part of it. 

Chances are you’ll find one during a walk in New York’s Central Park, under the Eiffel tower in Paris or on a Japanese bench. The Word Rocks project has become a worldwide hit. It started about five years ago, in San Diego.

Remarkable stones

Brazilian Carol Arèas had just moved to the United States and was feeling down. Every day, she got up feeling sad. She didn’t feel connected to the people in California and missed Brazil. Her husband, Paulo, advised her to take a walk along the ocean every day, because she loved the beach so much. One day, she found a couple of remarkable stones there.

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Carol: ‘I thought I would feel better if I would write down positive words on them, and put the stones around the house.’ When her ten year old son Antonio saw the stones, he immediately said: ‘Cool! Let’s paint a whole lot of them and spread them all over town, to make more people happy.’

Join in?

Everyone can join in and make Word Rocks, there are no rules. If you want to put stickers on the stones and be part of the project ‘officially’, you can order them through wordrocks.me@gmail.com. You can buy stones too – or, of course, buy stones at the garden centre and paint them yourself.

Let’s get to work

If you buy stones at the garden centre, don’t forget to clean them first, and let them dry for a while. Pick the right kind of paint: acrylic, quick-drying. You can paint them loosely. A stone is shaped unpredictably and unpolished, your piece of art can be too.

Looking for inspiration? Take a good look at the stone. The unique shape of it may just give you a creative idea.

Text: Catelijne Elzes