Does your family enjoy Easter Egg Hunting? If so, there’s a new craze sweeping our county that you’ll love: Rock Hunting! It’s a very simple concept: just paint or decorate small rocks and place them outside for others to find. If you find an art rock, you can either keep the rock or re-hide it for someone else to find.
I spoke with Melany Joyce Alexander-Stephens, admin of Facebook Group “Spring Hill & Brooksville – Hernando County Rocks” who got the idea from seeing other communities across the country doing it. She says, “I knew Hernando County needed something positive, so I started it here too! Pay it forward.”
With the simple act of painting and “hiding” rocks, you can spread happiness, love & inspiration to your neighbors. Who doesn’t like a good game of Hide and Seek? This phenomenon seems to be spreading faster than the local wildfires, yet it’s a community-building activity intended to inspire creativity in people of all ages. It’s also a great way to unite families and get kids off their electronic devices and out into fresh air.
This craze is reminiscent of Geocaching, which was all the rage several years ago, yet is much easier. Unlike Geocaching, no app is needed to locate the hidden treasure. You just walk outside and keep your eyes peeled. Popular places to find the rocks are local parks but they can be literally anywhere!
Here’s how to play along: find some small rocks (they can be purchased fairly inexpensively at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Rural King, Feed Stores, Dollar Tree etc).
Paint or decorate them using acrylic paint found in craft sections, paint markers, permanent markers, or any other artistic supplies your heart desires! You can get as creative as you want. Melany recommends that you spray your rocks with a clear gloss spray paint when finished to help protect the paint from the weather.
Next, go hide your treasure for someone else to find. You can hide them just about anywhere! Many people hide them at parks or beaches. Some have even hidden their art rocks near gas pumps, storefronts, restaurants, mailboxes, and bus stops.
Now that you’ve hidden your rocks, it’s time to go seek! If you find several rocks together, proper etiquette is to take one and leave some for others. Melany asks that if you find one and post a picture on social media that you use the hashtag #hernandocountyrocks so others in the community will be able to track it. She also recommends that on the back of your artwork you reference “Hernando County Rocks” that way we can see which rocks originated from our county versus other places. She explains, “This is more about making someone smile than it is Facebook recognition.” How cool would it be to see the journey of the rock you created and discover the history of where the rock you found came from?