Early Learning
Ladybirds
My ladybird stones were inspired by a request from a friend to produce some ‘counting stones’. I was asked to do stones with spots on one side and numbers on the other. Ladybirds instantly sprung to mind and so that is how I got involved in producing the ladybird stones for so many child care settings.
The stones are individually selected from a huge quantity that I purchase by the bag from a local landscaping firm. They are then scrubbed clean and sorted before I begin the painting process. They are given a coat of primer to ensure paint adhesion to the rock and then decorated accordingly before being finished with two thorough coats of heavy duty outdoor varnish. This creates a high shine and longevity. I’ve had stones out in my garden now through all seasons that look as good as they day they were put out.
Each set contains ladybirds with spots from zero to ten. So that’s 11 stones in total.
£12.50 + £4.50 packaging and delivery costs to a UK address.
Sets can be created in other colours on request at an additional cost of £3.
Sorting shapes, colours and emotions
I came up with this little group of stones as I felt it offered a little more than other sets on the market. By adding the expressions, there is lots of play value in this set. Each stone has its own character that you can’t help by feel endeared to.
Each stone is decorated using acrylic paints and varnished with two coats of heavy duty, outdoor varnish to ensure longevity.
A standard set consists of the shapes; circle, triangle, square and pentagon, in the colours red, blue, green and yellow. There are also two each of eight expressions; happy, sad, cheeky, surprised, worried, sleepy, angry and…..not so great!
£16.00 + £4.50 packaging and delivery costs to a UK address.
If you require a different combination of colours or shapes, these can be created to order at a cost of £1/stone.
Grouped counting stones in a Nature theme
These are great for the outdoor environment where you want to encourage counting whilst still maintaining a theme based on the natural world.
This set consists of:
1 worm
2 tadpoles
3 bees
4 frogs
5 fish
6 spiders
7 snails
8 ants
9 ladybirds
10 butterflies
You’ll notice I used rhyme or alliteration in the sets, right up to 9! Unfortunately, the stones would become massive if I tried to fit 9 newts or 10 tigers, but I’m open to other suggestions!
There is an option to add a set of number stones for matching to the groups. These come with the numerical value on one side and the written value on the other i.e. 1/one, 2/two, 3/three….
All stones are painted in acrylic paint and coated in two layers of heavy duty outdoor varnish to ensure longevity.
Nature stones without the number set:
£16 + £4.50 postage and packaging to a UK address.
Nature stones with the number set:
£21 + £4.50 postage and packaging to a UK address.
Weather Stones
This set of 9 weather stones were designed to depict sun, rain, wind, snow, clouds, thunder, hail, rainbow and mist/fog.
Each stone is decorated using acrylic paints and varnished with two coats of heavy duty, outdoor varnish to ensure longevity.
£12.50 + £4.50 postage and packaging.
Natural Number bonds
Using word association, I have created a set of 5 double sided stones with the aim of helping children visualise number bonds.
Each stone has an image linked to a number on one side and an associate set of images on the reverse with the matching number bond to 10 i.e.
1 bee hive, 9 bees
2 rabbits, 8 carrots
3 trees, 7 leaves
4 birds, 6 worms
5 caterpillars, 5 butterflies.
Each stone is decorated using acrylic paints and varnished with two coats of heavy duty, outdoor varnish to ensure longevity.
1 set double sided (5 stones): £10.00 + £4.50 postage and packaging.
1 sets single sided (10 stones): £15 + £4.50 postage and packaging.
2 sets double sided (10 stones): £20 + £4.50 postage and packaging.
Mud Kitchen Stones
These are stones simply painted to represent food items that can be used for play in the mud kitchen.
You can pick which ones you like at a cost of £2/stone plus £4 for delivery of up to approximately 10-15 stones before the postage costs increase.
The great thing about painting on stones is that each and every one is guaranteed to be unique. I think this adds to the fun for both myself when decorating them and for the recipient. I love the natural texture of the stones, the weight and the way the surface temperature is so noticeably affected by the environment.
I’m always coming up with new ideas and love to hear those of others. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any ideas you’d like to share or feedback from orders you have placed.
Thank you so much for supporting Griffin Rocks.
