Rock Painting With a Secret Rain Activated Image

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When I saw that I could buy paint that showed up white and turned clear when wet, I was super excited. This hydrochromic paint has been harder to use than I expected, but I have still made a water reveal book and a set of water gun targets with it. In the paint’s instructions they mention painting it on rocks to reveal a picture when it rains. I have painted rocks before and it was fun, so I thought this secret image rock painting would be extra fun.

My 3 year old, 1 year old, my mom, and I all painted a few rocks. We have placed them in our backyard for the kids to be able to see from the deck. I think it would also be fun to hide them throughout the city like a lot of people do with painted rocks. I can just imagine a person walking in the rain and picking a rock up while it was bright and colorful. Then, getting it home and taking it out of their pocket and it being back to white. It probably wouldn’t actually play out like that, but that’s how I am going to imagine it.

How to Paint Secret Image Rocks:

Materials:

• Rocks
• Acrylic paint
• Plastic tablecloth (optional)
• Hydrochromic paint

Rock Painting Layer:

First, paint the rocks. I wanted to try these secret image rocks out before getting the kids involved. So, my mom and I painted some while the kids napped. Then, I was able to fully concentrate on helping my kids paint later. My three year old daughter is a pro at this point, but my one year old son took a lot of watching. To minimize mess we put down a plastic tablecloth. My daughter picked out a few colors of paint and I squeezed small amounts of paint onto a plate for both of them. Read here for more tips on painting with a toddler.

My daughter had seen our test rocks at this point, so she was very excited. She wanted to paint a bee just like Grammy. She also painted a tiger and a butterfly. My son mostly painted the tablecloth, but he got some paint on his rocks. He likes being able to do everything he sees his sister doing, so he insisted that he got to dip his paintbrush in the paint. I also put out a small paper cup of water and a paper towel to rinse the paint brushes with.

Secret Rain Activated Layer:

Once the painted rocks dried, I painted over them with hydrochromic paint. My kids got to watch, but I did this part since it is really hard to get right. Unfortunately, I got better results from our test rocks than from my kid’s rocks. I was able to get a solid white layer on all the rocks, but the second batch didn’t turn as clear with water. Since I was running low on the paint and the rocks are going to be sitting on the ground, I didn’t bother to paint the bottoms.

Read all my tips for working with this paint in my water reveal book post. But, the highlights are mix a couple drops of water with your paint and do multiple coats. To get multiple coats, you need to wait until the paint is just starting to turn white. If you wait too long, the paint won’t turn as clear. The pictures below show what the paint looks like when it first goes on and when it is ready for a second coat.

Outcome of Rock Painting with a Secret Rain Activated Image:

My kids, especially my daughter, had fun rock painting. My daughter also really liked seeing the secret images show up. I put the rocks where they can be seen from the deck. My daughter likes running around on the deck in the rain, so I am excited to point them out to her the next time it rains.

I admit, I cheated to get the below pictures. I used a hose instead of waiting for a rainstorm. But, the below pictures do show what it can do. They start out white and unassuming and then as they get wet, more and more of the pictures start showing up. Then, once they dry they go back to being white. What hidden images did you paint on your rocks?