Group called Corridor Rocks aims to brighten others’ days

Rocks of various shapes and sizes are becoming the creative canvases for those taking part in a new Corridor community group.

Members of Corridor Rocks find, paint and hide rocks around the Corridor for others to find.

Corridor Rocks was started by Sara Connell, a mother, who was exposed to the idea when visiting the Okoboji area where another rock hiding group, known as Boji Rocks, is located. Connell and her family participated in the activity while visiting the area and loved it enough to want to bring it back to the Corridor.

'I did some more looking into it to see where this originally started and I found the Kindness Rocks project and found out that there were these rock hiding groups across the country aimed at brightening someone's day,” Connell said.

Connell founded the Corridor Rocks Facebook group with a few of her friends and began to paint and hide rocks around the area. The activity soon caught on and the group began to grow.

'We've continued to grow and I get requests to join pretty much every day,” Connell said of the Facebook group. 'I think people are interested in it and sharing it with other friends.”

Connell said the activity is a great way to spend time with her son Jacob, 6.

'We've enjoyed every aspect together. He has loved rocks from a young age and so it was kind of a natural extension of his love of rocks. So, we have hunted rocks and looked for the ‘perfect' rocks together,” Connell said.

Jacob said he is always thinking of what to paint on the rocks he finds.

'My favorite part about it is painting the rocks,” he said. 'I feel really, really happy when I find a rock.”

After the rocks are painted, members of the group are tagging them with #corridorrocks or with the group's label on the back.

Rocks are being hidden in a variety of locations around the Corridor including parks, splash pads and the Pedestrian Mall in downtown Iowa City. Clues as to where rocks are hidden are posted on the group's Facebook page.

'It's a thing that families can do together and it gets people outside and away from screens and other distractors and it lets people use their creativity both in finding the rocks, painting the rocks and hiding them for others to find and enjoy,” Connell said.

Connell said she looks forward to seeing the group continue to grow.

'To be able to head up a group that is centered in this part of the state that is family oriented is exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing it continue to grow as it catches on and as more people participate and more Corridor Rocks are being found,” Connell said. 'I feel like now we're always on the lookout for brightly colored rocks or where a rock might be that isn't necessarily in its natural place.”

Do It Yourself

Interested in getting involved in Corridor Rocks? Check out the group's Facebook page, which currently has more than 120 followers. The following are some pointers for finding, painting, hiding and collecting rocks as part of the initiative, according to the group's founder Sara Connell: