via iStock/JeniceRay
rock painting
Last year, there was Pokémon Go. This year, kids—and adults—are hiding and searching for painted rocks. It’s a craze that’s sweeping the area.
Red Bud, Illinois resident Sarah Mercurio started Red Bud Rocks after painting rocks with her summer class at her daycare center. “We were going to have the rocks go on adventures with them over the summer and then journal about them, but it turned out that everyone really enjoyed painting the rocks," she says.
In researching rock paining ideas, Mercurio realized there were communities painting and hiding rocks. She created a Red Bud Rocks page on Facebook and began spreading the word through her students. “I told them to tell their friends, and maybe if their friends start doing it, we can find their rocks.”
The rules are simple: Paint a rock and hide it. Find a rock, take a picture to post on Facebook, and hide it for someone else to find.
To kick off Red Bud Rocks, Mercurio’s daughter hid rocks at the Fireman’s Picnic, and Mercurio asked a few friends to share the page on Facebook. “And then people just started participating,” Mercurio says.
In a little over a month, the page has gained over 600 followers.
Even local businesses have joined in on the fun. Some are hiding rocks for giveaways, while others are donating rocks. North County News has a box of free rocks just outside its office.
Courtesy of Lauren Langrehr
A family finds a Red Bud Rock at a local Dairy Queen.
“It’s free and fun,” Mercurio says. “I just really like art and anything that gets the kids out of their bored state.”
The first time Mercurio told her kids, ages 15, 12, and 5, that they were going to look for rocks, “they looked at me like I had three heads,” she laughs.
Much to her surprise, they all enjoyed themselves. “My middle daughter said we haven’t had this much fun in a long time," Mercurio says. "It made me feel good because she really didn’t want to go. I think when they see other kids out doing it, they don’t feel so awkward.”
Mercurio’s youngest son wants to look for rocks all the time, “and he’s the kid that will watch a tablet for hours.”
The question Mercurio receives the most is whether adults can participate. “It’s for everyone,” she says.
Red Bud residents have started taking rocks on vacation in the hopes of having it spread, but it looks like it already has. Chester, Illinois started a group, Rock “N” in River City, after seeing the response in Red Bud, and it already has nearly 700 members. It’s not just in Illinois: North St. Louis County has 1,450 members on its NoCo Rocks page.
For those wanting to get involved, Mercurio says the Dollar Tree sells bags of smooth rocks for a dollar. If you’re short on ideas, go to any of the area Facebook pages where you’ll find rocks painted as poop emojis, minions, monsters, flowers, sunshines, and rainbows.
A few local rock hiding/searching pages:
Illinois
Painted Rocks Project: Belleville
Painted Rocks Project: Glen Carbon
Missouri
