How to make a make a colourful memory stone snake: Try this easy creative craft project for families

3 August 2020, 09:41

Promoted by wilko

By Zoe Hardman

@Zoehardman

Heart's Zoe Hardman and her two young children got stuck in to some arts and crafts when they joined forces to make a colourful stone snake to brighten up their garden.

Making a memory snake with my kids gave us a chance to share our favourite moments of the last few months, and it's an activity that none of us will ever forget.

Like a lot of busy mums, I sometimes struggle to think of arts and crafts projects to do with my family, but making a colourful snake out of different sized stones was so easy to set up and kept them busy and happy all afternoon.

Creating a colourful memory stone snake was an amazing way to get Luna, nearly 4, and Kit, 2, doing something creative and fun at the same time.

They both love painting and drawing anyway, so doing it on stones just added to the fun.

Before we got started, I collected some different sized stones from the garden, and ones I spotted when I was out and about, and gave them a good scrub with a wire brush and some washing up liquid to get rid of any dirt or moss, and make sure they would be easy to draw, paint, or stick on when dry.

After getting the kids into clothes I didn’t mind getting messy, and putting down a blanket to protect the 'creative station', we talked about the things they love, what makes them happy and some of their favourite memories from the past few months, which included rainbows, frogs, and flowers.

With these ideas fresh in our minds, we used a selection of products from wilko to decorate the stones, before forming a great big memory snake, which brought all of our favourite things to life.

Dedicating a stone for a special memory from lockdown also helped to make a positive out of what might have been a scary or confusing time.

The paint tray holds seven colours which meant there was space for everything, and with 12 paintbrushes, there was no opportunity for bickering.

A huge craft pack provided us with lots of cute extras and finishing touches, from pipe cleaners to feathers and sequins, which we stuck on when the painted designs were dry using glitter glue.

A pipe cleaner turned out to be a great forked tongue for our new slithery friend, and goggly eyes really brought them to life!

I love doing stuff with them that is calm and doesn’t cost much, and there are so many other variations of this project that would work really well.

You could decorate individual stones and leave them in the local park to brighten up other people's day, or give them to friends and family as a cute present.

My two loved making their stone snake, and even laying it out in the garden afterwards brought a huge smile to their faces.

At bedtime, Luna and I always talk about our days when I tuck her in, and for the next few nights, it was all she could talk about. Her little face lit up with pride when she spoke about her stone snake.

Her favourite stone was the rainbow, and Kit liked the one with the headphones on.

We’ll definitely be doing it again. It didn't cost a lot, as most activities do, and we will never run out of ideas for what to paint next - and we have plenty of paint, decorations and glitter glue left over!

Whether you're keeping busy at home with a bit of organising and decluttering, finding new ways to entertain the kids, or brightening up the garden for the summer, wilko has got your little wins covered. Click here to check out their ranges.

Plus, we've teamed up with them to give you the chance to win £1,000 to spend on keeping the kids entertained. Enter here.