When Longmont mom Melissa Weisner was faced with planning a birthday party for her geology-crazed then-6 year-old son, she took nothing for granite (ba DUM bum).

It all crystallized for her when she began thinking about a game. She developed one and rolled it out at her son’s party two years ago to great reviews from him and his friends, and now ROCK ON! is being shipped to kids everywhere via Amazon.

Each shoe-box sized game is teacher-approved, made in the United States, retails for $25 and includes:

My kids got a chance to play (we received a sample in exchange for writing an honest review). Tessa, 11,  and Reed, 9  had never expressed interest in rocks before (unless we’re talking about a Jonas Brothers movie) but they sat and played together nicely, trying to figure out how to pronounce words like “anhydrite” and “septarium.”

Melissa, mom to four boys — an 8 year-old and triplet 7 year-olds — says, “Since the birth of ROCK ON! my children’s fascination with the earth’s elements has resulted in some amazing collections and their geology knowledge is equally amazing. But maybe most important of all, some of our best times together are now spent in nature looking for treasures the earth has to offer.”

I intend to take the rock love outside the next time we’re out trekking. In the meantime, ROCK ON! is a recommended introduction to geology for kids, sure to cement their interest in geology.

ROCK ON! on Facebook
ROCK ON! on Amazon (great Christmas gift or stocking stuffer)
ROCK ON! Etsy store
Video clip from Channel ‘s Colorado’s Best.

Images: ROCK ON! on Facebook and Lori LavenderLuz

Lori blogs from metro-Denver at LavenderLuz.com. Her book, The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole, written with her daughter’s birth mom, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2013. Her children, Tessa and Reed, rock her world.