7 beginner stones for your child’s rock and mineral collection

If you think you could never get your child interested in science, think again! One of the best ways to get kids excited about science is to get them excited about the world around them. And what could be more commonplace in the natural world than rocks? These freewheeling portions of the earth’s crust are fun trinkets for kids to collect and learn about at home.

Read on to find out how and why a rock collection could improve your child’s life and learning experience. Plus, we’ll give you the lowdown on 7 essential rocks for any young collector, so you can help your child learn the basics of geology from home!

Why a Rock and Mineral Collection?

Collecting rocks and minerals is a great occupation for kids of all ages! (That said, while rocks and minerals can be examined and appreciated by all ages, younger kids who are still prone to testing objects with their mouth should always be closely supervised with them!)

Rocks and minerals are a fun, hands-on way to teach kids science fundamentals! You can use them to teach the basics of geology, including concepts like where different types of rocks come from, what their component minerals are, and how to measure their hardness and other properties.

Rock collecting expeditions around the neighborhood or out in nature are a great way to spend time together as a family and relieve some stress, get fresh air, and exercise!

Kids can also use their newfound rocks and minerals in crafts, opening up a world of creative possibilities!

Beginner Geology for Kids

Here’s a quick refresher from elementary school science so you can point out characteristics of different rocks to your child and help them grow their knowledge! There are three basic types of rocks: Sedimentary, Metamorphic, and Igneous. These types of rocks are all created at different points of what we call the rock cycle. The rock cycle starts when magma underneath the earth’s crust flows to the surface through a crack, where it becomes lava which cools and solidifies. This forms igneous rocks, which have varying crystal sizes and structures depending on how quickly or slowly the lava cooled.

Igneous (or metamorphic) rocks that are eroded, or broken up very slowly into the sediment, by water can become sedimentary rocks: collections of sediment that are cemented together into new rocks. Sedimentary rocks are often characterized by layers of different accumulated materials in them.

When igneous and sedimentary rocks are subjected to intense heat or pressure, it causes their actual mineral structure to change! New minerals can even be formed by chemical reactions in this case. The new rocks this process creates are known as metamorphic rocks. These rocks can often have a striped appearance due to the intense pressure on the layers of minerals.

In addition to rocks, there are other mineral deposits known as crystals, which are most often pure, natural deposits made up of one or two elements, found inside the earth’s crust.

One more thing to discuss before we dive into the beginner stones. One of the easiest properties of rocks to measure is hardness, thanks in part to the Mohs Hardness Scale, which represents the hardness of minerals on a scale of Talc at 1, the softest of minerals, to a diamond at 10, the hardest mineral.

7 Beginner Stones

If you want your child to be captivated by geology, you’ll have to show them some of the earth’s power in action, in the form of rocks! These common rocks and crystals are great examples of what the rock cycle can do at every stage and are commonly available from online suppliers or prepackaged rock collection kits.

1. Quartz

Quartz is the building-block-mineral for all the rocks you can find on earth’s surface. One of the most abundant minerals in earth’s crust, it’s found in every type of bedrock, sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous! It forms relatively tall and thin little crystals often called “points”. It’s made up of silicon dioxide, and is very hard, with a rating of 7 on the Mohs Hardness scale.

2. Fluorite

Fluorite is sometimes also called fluorspar, and its chemical composition is calcium fluorite. It has the unique property of being fluorescent, in fact, the property of fluorescence gets its name from fluorite! Shine a flashlight through a small piece to watch it seem to glow from the inside. Fluorite is a soft mineral that comes in lots of different colors, though its purest form is colorless.

3. Calcite

Calcite is, like fluorite, known for the wide variety of colors it can take on. However, calcite also stands out for being found in more than 300 different shapes, more than any other mineral! It’s found in a lot of underwater animals’ shells and is therefore found in a lot of sedimentary rocks, like limestone. It’s chemical makeup is calcium carbonate, and it’s relatively soft and sensitive to acids.

4. Pyrite

Pyrite is also known as “fool’s gold” and one look will tell you why! Kids will love the glimmering crystalline structure of this mineral, composed of iron sulfide molecules. It forms little cube shaped crystals and ranks a 6-6.5 on the Mohs Hardness scale.

5. Obsidian

Obsidian is a beautiful, glossy, black igneous rock that is formed when magma cools so rapidly that no crystals have the chance to form. Thus, it resembles a piece of black glass. Compare the texture of this rock to that of one with a crystalline structure to wow your kids with the difference cooling time makes in an igneous rock’s appearance!

6. Gneiss

Gneiss (pronounced “nice”) is a metamorphic rock composed of either igneous or sedimentary rocks subjected to pressure and heat. It is one of the most commonly available types of metamorphic rock, and is characterized by thin, uneven, horizontal bands of minerals. Your child will be able to see the striated layers so common in metamorphic rocks as they examine their nice gneiss!

7. Limestone

Limestone’s major mineral component is calcite, which is already on this list! See if your child can pick up on the smoothness of the calcite in this sedimentary version. The particles in limestone are so small that it looks and feels a lot like cement! Maybe that’s why it was a popular building material before the advent of industrialization.

These basic rocks might just get your kid hooked on geology, but if you’re still looking for ways to further their education, search our extensive collection of kids’ activities for all ages, aspirations, and personalities on Wondrfly!