CREATION STATION: ROCK GARDEN CATERPILLAR

Source: nelliebellie.com

This fun rock craft is a great way to get your kids excited about the garden! Creating their own garden rock caterpillar to “guard” the garden is a fun activity for the whole family. It’s also inexpensive and easy, and children can help gather up the needed supplies.

Materials

• Disposable brushes in various sizes
• Rocks
• Craft paint (if your caterpillar will be sitting outside, use an outdoor paint)
• E6000 or equivalent glue
• Twigs for the antennae
• Black sharpie or black paint and q-tips for the faces

Directions

• Paint your rocks. It’s recommended that you paint them multiple colours, but you can certainly paint them all one colour if you like. Be prepared to take some time on this part. You need to paint one side, let it dry, and then paint the other, and they may need multiple coats. It is not difficult, just a bit time-consuming, so it’s a great time to watch a favourite movie and have some snacks. Be prepared, this is going to get messy (and fun).
• Draw the face on your caterpillar’s head. One of the easiest ways to do this is with q-tips and the paint you are currently using. Or, you could pull out some permanent markers. Be sure to wait until the paint on the rocks has properly dried before adding your face.
• Assemble the caterpillar after the paint has properly dried. Put the head in place and then balance the remaining rocks onto one another. Often you will want to prop up the rocks with a paint container, another rock, or whatever works, as you figure out how they’ll be connected to each other.
• Attach the “antennae” (twigs) with your waterproof glue. You need to attach your antennae to the first rock on the body. Use rocks, bottles, books, whatever you can find to prop them up while they dry. Let dry for several hours.
• Let your whole caterpillar dry and cure overnight, then place in the garden!