Nearly every day for the past month, Wesley Copelin and his 4-year-old son, Max, have combed through Port Orange parks scouring for colorful stones to pile onto their collection.

It’s a hobby that’s rocked Volusia County as a couple of thousand locals have joined the hunt for stones tucked away in hideaways in the cities they know as home.

The gems they find – in all kinds of places – haven’t been handed over by nature but rather hand-decorated and hand-placed by many of the individuals out in search of rocky jewels.

Most all of them are painted – some topped with glitter – and feature bright colors, imaginative designs and often soft words of encouragement or inspiration.

The concept, branded VolusiaCountyRocks and introduced to the county by Copelin, is a simple one intended to spread creativity across the community: Paint rocks into works of art – preferably “PG rated,” for the sake of kids – add sealer to protect the paint from outdoor elements, write “Volusia County Rocks FB” (for Facebook) on the back, hide them in safe public spots, and then start sleuthing for rocks dressed up by other players.

What Copelin began as a recreational outlet he could share with his family has quickly escalated into a mountain of a movement that has drawn county residents outside their houses into corners of their communities they, in some instances, haven’t previously explored.

“I thought it would be something positive that families can do together, something that can get them outside,” said Copelin, who lives in Port Orange.

Among the most memorable rocks Copelin has stumbled upon is one themed after his favorite book, “The Giving Tree.” That one he kept. Many others he has decided to re-hide as a way to pass on the fun of the finds.

Copelin carbon copied the idea from Lakeland, rolling it into Volusia County after unearthing a bunch of painted rocks near his sister’s Lakeland home. The back of the rocks directed him to visit the “Lakeland Rocks” Facebook page, where he found more than 30,000 members.

Copelin’s VolusiaCountyRocks Facebook page, launched in mid-January, is ticking closer to 4,000 members with about 100 new members adding to the momentum each day.

The page had 30 members the first time its founder posted that he planned to “rock” Port Orange City Center, or disseminate decorated rocks throughout the green space.

Once the group began to more broadly vocalize its countywide game of hide-and-seek, “it really exploded,” Copelin said, explaining that the nearly instant craze has come from both social media chatter and the movement’s ability to catch word-of-mouth tailwinds.

Now a stream of pictures showing rocks to be hidden or capturing the delight of children with stones they’ve found pour onto the VolusiaCountyRocks Facebook page almost hour by hour – connecting artists with explorers and bringing their experience full circle.

The process of painting rocks, planting them and finding them has accelerated from fun to addictive for participants like Port Orange resident Nicole Sanchez, who spruces up rocks with her 7-year-old daughter, Navella, and also helps Copelin keep up with the flood of Facebook posts on the VolusiaCountyRocks page.

“Seeing the joy in people’s faces when they find the rocks” is a big part of why Sanchez has painted rock after rock – too many to count.

“You’re not getting instant gratification, but you know that you’re putting something out there and it’s something bigger than yourself,” she said.

Sandy Jarvis, also of Port Orange, is just as jazzed about the movement behind the rocks, from which she often garners a sense of instant gratification.

“You see your completed product quickly,” she said. “It’s not a long drawn-out process. Some of (the designs) are just really adorable, and it doesn’t take 10 minutes to paint them.”

Jarvis’ designs span from cartoon faces and flowers to animals and landscapes and, like others involved, she gathers ideas from the Internet and Pinterest, where people in other cities swept by the rock hunts have posted their works of art.

For Jarvis, who likens VolusiaCountyRocks to a “year-long Easter egg hunt,” the joy of painting rocks is nearly outweighed by the joy she sees in her grandkids and other children when they come across stones.

“The kids are just so excited about it, and it’s just awesome to brighten the little kids’ day and see them running around the park,” she said.

That’s the whole point – propelling kids and families off couches and away from electronics to spend time together and promote random acts of community kindness.

“It just feels good to give and not get anything in return,” Sanchez said. “I think it makes our souls feel good.”