Blarney Stone

What You Need:

• Smooth rock, washed and dried
• Acrylic paint in green
• Acrylic paint in other colors (optional: try orange and white for the colors of the Irish flag)
• Paint brushes
• Small bowls
• Glitter, beads, and/or sequins
• Glue

What You Do:

1. Pour a little green paint into one of the small bowls and ask your child to paint the rock on all sides.
2. Let the paint dry completely.
3. Once the first coat is dry, have him paint a second coat of green paint on the rock, then let dry again.
4. Now it’s time to decorate! Pour a little glitter, beads, or similar items into small bowls and have your child glue them on the rock. You're using other paint colors, pour some into the bowls and let your child paint as she likes.
5. Once she's done decorating, set the rock aside to dry.

Kissing the Blarney Stone may sound like a simple enough task, but it's actually quite tricky. It rests between the parapet and main wall of the castle; to kiss it, you have to lean backwards and turn your head upside down while holding on to the iron supports! Still, thousands of people visit the castle annually in the hope of receiving the stone’s magical gift.