Make Your Own Funny Rock Painting for Kids

If you looking for a quick, fun and easy project to make with your kids, then this is the perfect choice for you.

This funny rock painting project is extremely simple and can be made by kids (and adults!) of all ages.

You’ll probably have everything you need to make this craft, even if you have a very limited arts and crafts selection.

When you’ve finished this fun activity, you’ll have your own bright yellow SpongeBob SquarePants rock, but the fun doesn’t have to stop there! The best part is that you can adapt these instructions to make lots of different types of silly faces.

Why not try out your own rock art ideas, and make a different color face, a pet rock or even design your own pattern?

Supply List for Funny Rock Painting

• Smooth Rocks (Palm Sized)
• Acrylic Paint (Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and White)
• Paint Brushes
• Black Marker

How to Make a Funny Rock Painting

Step 1: Choose a Rock

If you have children at home you’ll most likely already have a collection of rocks to choose from! If not, take a walk to find an ideal rock, or visit your local craft store, they usually sell packs if you can’t find any suitable rocks nearby.

These rocks are also available on Amazon in plenty of different sizes.

The best rocks need to be large enough to paint a design on, ideally about the size of your palm.

Choose flat rocks that have a fairly smooth surface, this will make adding details easier.

Step 2: Clean the Rock

Make sure to clean the rock before starting painting it.

Soak the rock in warm soapy water and use a scrub brush to remove any dirt or dust. Let the rock dry before you start to paint it.

Step 3: Choose a Design

While the rock is drying, you can go ahead and look for the design you want.

For this DIY, we will do the Spongebob design you saw at the start of this tutorial.

You can choose absolutely any design you want – cartoon characters, letters or an intricate pattern. Have a look for some inspiration by just taking a look all around you.

If you’re trying to inspire your children to get creative, ask them to take a look at their favorite books, toys or movies for ideas.

You can print your design off, or draw it out on a piece of paper before you paint the rock to make sure it’s just how you want it.

There are also some great rock art books available too, if you think this will be a craft your kids come back to again and again.

Some other fun ideas for your design could include:

• Flowers or anything nature-based
• Animals
• Favorite quotes
• Kindness rocks or rocks with inspirational messages
• Strawberry rocks or other food-related rocks (why not make a whole play kitchen of rocks!)
• Make Tic-Tac-Toe by painting five rocks with O’s and five rocks with X’s

If you want some more ideas, skip ahead to the FAQ section where you’ll find some more ideas.

Step 4: Choose Your Paint

There are many different types of paint, but the best paint to use to paint rocks are acrylic paints.

Acrylic paints are much hardier than poster paints or watercolors, and are likely to last much longer, especially if you want to hide them outside.

If you don’t have any acrylic paints, you could try using poster paints and sealing the rock with a varnish or lacquer when you’ve finished your design.

If you don’t want to spend a fortune, just buy black and white, and the three primary colors (red, blue and yellow). You’ll be able to mix any color you like with these five colors, and it can be lots of fun for children to learn about colors this way.

If you’re following along with the SpongeBob tutorial, you’ll need:

• White
• Black
• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

If you’re painting rocks with very young children, you might find it easier to use sharpies or acrylic paint pens. Young children can find it frustrating trying to achieve the pattern or shape that the way to paint with paint brushes, especially given the small surface area of the rock which they’re painting on.

Step 5: Paint the Rock White

Before you begin to paint your design onto the rock, paint the whole rock white.

This will give the rock a base color, and make whichever color you choose to paint the rock stand out better, especially if your rock is grey or black.

Make sure you allow the white paint to fully dry before going onto the next step, or the white will mix in with your chosen color creating a pastel shade.

Step 6: Paint the Rock Yellow

When the white paint is completely dry, you can paint a layer or two of yellow over the top. This color should now be much more vibrant than it would have been if you’d have just painted the rock yellow straight away.

At this point, if you’re creating a different design, you’ll want to choose the color that most suits your design.

For example, if you’ve chosen to paint a bear, you’ll want to paint your rock brown. If you’ve chosen to paint a night sky, paint the rock a dark shade of blue. Once your painted rocks are dry, you can move onto the next step.

Step 7: Add the Eyes

Using the white paint and your paint brush, paint two circles for SpongeBob’s eyes.

If you’re creating your own design you can begin to add more detail with the paint now.

Step 8: Draw the Mouth

The next step is to use your black maker to draw a curved line for the mouth.

This line should start just below the eyes and stretch just as wide as the pair of eyes.

You can add small curved lines either side of the mouth to make it look like it’s smiling!

If you’re creating your own design, at this point you can use markers to highlight any bits that you want to stand out, using markers is also a great way to create more fine line detail that you can’t achieve with a paint brush.

Step 10: Paint Additional Features

Using the white acrylic paint and the paint brush, create two square shapes under the curved line of the mouth to make SpongeBob’s teeth!

If you want to make it extra funny, you could even paint them on a little bit wonky!

As before, if you’re painting your own design, feel free to use different colors of paint now to bring your rock to life.

Step 11: Outline the Eyes and Teeth

Using a black marker (and a steady hand!) outline SpongeBob’s eyes and teeth. This will make them pop out and look more defined.

You can now really start to see this rock taking shape, and I’m sure if you’ve created your own design, it is also taking shape too!

Step 12: Add More Details

Using the red paint, give SpongeBob two cute cheeks by creating a curved and putting three red dots inside it.

You can also use your marker to give the rock a nose now.

Step 13: Time for the Eyes

Now you can finish off the eyes using the blue paint, by making smaller circles inside the white eyes you painted earlier.

Use your paints and markers to create any final detail to your rock if you’ve made your own design. At this point, it should almost be finished!

Step 14: Finishing Touches!

Add three lines to the top of SpongeBob’s eyes, to really make them stand out!

You can do this using paint or a marker pen. The marker pen might give you a slightly neater line, but the paint makes the eyelashes look thicker!

Finished Funny Painted Rock That Looks Like SpongeBob!

Here he is! The final, very cute and funny looking SpongeBob SquarePants rock face. I really loved how quick and simple this rock was to make.

It can easily be adapted to make pretty much any other rock ideas you want with very few resources. All you need is a rock and some paint! This is a wonderful way to spend some time with your children, and needs very little planning!

I’m going to hide this in our local park with a small message on the back asking the finder to re-hide it somewhere else once they’ve finished playing with it.

There are quite a few Facebook groups set up where you can post pictures of different rocks that you find while out and about. Many of these groups have rocks that have traveled the globe, when holidaying visitors decided to take them back home to re-hide them!

Your kids will love following their rocks to their new hiding places if you write some details on the back of it to track it! Have a look for a Facebook group in your local area to get going.

I think this is such a great idea and encourages kids to get out and about to find rocks too!

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve tried out this fun project with your children! What did they paint, which was their favorite? Drop a comment, or tag me on social media @upcyclemystuff, can’t wait to see all your fun projects!

Don’t forget to check out my top tips for this project below as well as some frequently asked questions that you might have about rock painting.

You’ll also find a video version of this tutorial below if you prefer to learn visually!

Top Tips for Funny Rock Painting

• If you’re making rock paintings with younger children, you might find it easier to use acrylic paint pens with them rather than acrylic paints. They are much neater and easier to use that paint and paintbrushes.
• Perhaps you’re doing this craft with really young children? If so, you can just let them use their favorite colors to paint the rock with rather than paint anything in particular.
• Does the design you want to paint have eyes? For example a human face, cartoon character or animal? If so, you could stick googly eyes on instead of trying to paint them on. This will make them look extra cute!
• If you want to use dark paint, remember that light colors don’t show up that well on top, so always paint the lighter colors first. For example, if you’re painting a black monster, paint the eyes and features, and then add the black paint on at the end, around the eyes and features.
• Once you’ve finished your stone painting, the frugal fun doesn’t have to end there! Why not hide them around the garden for your children to have a fun scavenger hunt?

Frequently Asked Questions

Printable Instructions for Funny Rock Painting

If you prefer your children to have screen-free time when making crafts, then these printable instructions are perfect for you. I’ve rounded up the basic instructions to create this SpongeBob face so that you can just print it off and keep your kids busy for a while!

Other Projects You Might Like

If you enjoyed this project, you might like these other quick and easy projects that are simple for children to do on their own, or with you.

• Super Fun Popsicle Stick Crafts for Kids
• Upcycling Projects for Kids
• Fun Popsicle Stick Crafts for Kids
• Free Easy Stuffed Bunny Sewing Pattern
• How to Make Heart Cushions from Fleece Scraps
• 14 Ways to Upcycle Fabric Scraps as Gifts for Kids