Kid’s Crafts – Hand Painted Hungry Shark Pet Rock

This hand painted hungry shark pet rock is a great craft project for the kids to do! It’s easy and you can make several of them in just one afternoon. All you need are smooth river rocks, acrylic craft paint, a paint brush, water dish, and paper towels. No template/pattern is needed!

You’ll want to look for triangular shaped smooth rocks along the river, pond, lake, ocean, or other waterway. We found 7 triangular shaped rocks on our walk along the bayside of the beach. Bring them home and wash them in warm soapy water (I like using Dawn Liquid Dish Soap) to remove the sand, dirt, debris, and fishy odors. Air dry for 24 hours.

We like a shiny look to the shark so we opted to use a silver metallic acrylic paint to base coat all of the rocks on all sides. We did have to give them 2 coats of paint with 40-45 minutes of drying time between coats. Let dry until the paint is no longer tacky.

Find the position on the rock that you like best to form the shark’s head. You’ll paint a white triangle shape with rounded corners as shown in the photograph. Again, 2 coats of white paint were used. Add 2 oval shaped black eyes. Let dry. Inside the white triangle you need to paint a red triangle with rounded corners to serve as the inside of the mouth. Again, 2 coats of paint were needed.

Once the paint is dry you want to finish up the shark rock by adding the white teeth and the white inner portion to each eye. Let the rocks dry for 3-4 hours or until the paint is no longer tacky.

If you want to protect the painted finish you’ll want to take them outside and spray them with 2-3 light coats of a clear acrylic spray sealer. We used one with a glossy finish. Let dry for 6-8 hours. You can now use them as small decor accents inside and outside your home. I have a few placed in my one flower bed and they add a nice pop of color! My grandson has a few that he made displayed on a bookcase in his bedroom.

* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!