The Amazing Balancing Rocks of Zimbabwe

How did they do that?

What looks like the creations of giant preschoolers in the block area is one of Zimbabwe's coolest attractions.  The balancing rocks are found in a few places in Zimbabwe where the ancient granite hills have been carved away by the rain and wind and the small rocks and dirt have washed away to leave these awesome stacked block structures that look as if a strong wind could blow them over. 
So cool! The most famous structure is called the Mother and Child and is found at Matopos National Park. The rocks are such an interesting feature in Zimbabwe that they are even pictured on their money.  These are huge, amazing geological wonders but I thought that surely we could make them at home, right?  I mean how hard could that be?!  And know what? I was right, but ours are on a much smaller scale :)

The Balancing Rocks Project

For this project you will need:

ROCKS!!  The nice man at the landscaping store gave us these beautiful rocks when we explained our project to him.  They were perfect!  Thank you Broadmoor Landscaping Supply !!


Now the fun part.  See how high you can get your rocks balanced!  My daughter and I soon found out how hard this actually was.  She is not known for her patience, so I was very impressed at how long she kept at it!  Her end result was pretty good and mine was kind of cool too, if I say so myself.








We bought rocks (well we would have) but this could easily be done with the rocks in your yard.  It was a good lesson in patience and persistence, as well as, science and math.  And it was really a fun challenge :)  








My daughter rocks!! (above)
I love my big rock on top >>
it had the perfect flat bottom!