This week’s kindness project is an idea that was inspired by some of our dear friends. It’s a ritual they started after moving into their new home.   Any time they have new guests, they ask the visitors to paint a rock with a special message and design.  Our friends then take the painted rocks and spread them throughout their yard to create a Friendship Rock Garden.

The Friendship Rock Garden is a beautiful reminder of the awesomeness of our loved ones.  Our friends, our family members, all have something unique and special to offer, just like each painted rock.  The rocks together are an artistic display of the love that surrounds a home.

We loved this thoughtful idea so much that we are starting this tradition in our home.   This is a perfect activity to involve the littles.  As parents of younger children already know, painting rocks is a lot more fun than painting in coloring books, so kids love this activity. An added bonus is to put the littles in charge of the Friendship Rock Garden. They feel special making others feel special, so it’s a win-win.

In addition to the Friendship Rock Garden, you can also do a kindness project to share these rocks of love with the outside world. Around the country there are some awe-inspiring movements of this concept.

• In Indiana a teacher facilitated an amazing art installation project of painted rocks from every student in her elementary school. Her inspiration was the book, Only One You. She wanted current and future students to have a reminder to be to true to themselves.
• Love Rocks was started by parents who tragically lost both of their daughters in a car accident. To honor their daughters’ lives, they started Love Rocks to “share love and joy one rock at a time.”
• Another heartfelt movement is The Kindness Rocks Project, which was started by a woman who believes that “one message at just the right time can change your entire day…outlook…life.”  She has partnered with Michaels to start a “One Million Kindness Rocks Challenge” to spread her wonderful vision across the country.  

The simplicity of painting and sharing rocks with loving messages is brilliant.  And spreading this love inside or outside the home can make a powerful difference in someone’s life- maybe sometimes when they need it most.

#MAKEKindnessRocks #plantingseedsofcompassion #loveandlightforallbeings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK8iHsDXGvQ&feature=youtu.be