Fishing Games and Crafts for Children

Magnetic Fish Game

• Draw fish shapes on cardboard or poster board. Don̵7;t worry if they aren̵7;t perfect. Fish come in many shapes and sizes. Keep your fish between 3 and 6 inches in length. Make some skinny and others fat. Cut out the fish shapes from cardboard or poster board. This is a great way to recycle boxes at home. Let the child decorate the fish shapes as she pleases. She may color the fish or cover the shape with stickers or pieces of paper, whatever you have on hand. Slip a large paper clip where the fish̵7;s mouth would be. Find a round magnet with a hole through the middle. These can often be found at office or craft stores. Thread a 3 foot piece of yarn through the hole and tie the magnet to one end of the yarn. Tie the other end of the yarn to a stick. This can be anything from a single chopstick to a small tree branch. Spread the fish shapes out on the floor. Tell your child this is the lake. Show the child how to ̶0;cast̶1; her line into the ̶0;lake̶1; and pull it back slowly to catch one of the paper-clipped fish with her magnet.

Phonics Fish Game

• Prepare your fish as you would for the Magnetic Fish game, with one exception: only decorate the fish on one side. On the other side write a letter or a short sight word. Spread the fish out on the floor with the words face down. When the child catches the fish he must speak the word or phonetic sound to keep the fish. If he says it wrong, he has to throw it back. When all the fish have been caught, the child with the most fish wins. You can alter this game to teach math by drawing dots or writing simple math problems. Older children might enjoy playing the fishing game with fractions that need simplification.

Rainbow Fish Sun Catcher

• You can bring home the beauty of the children̵7;s book ̶0;The Rainbow Fish̶1; with nothing more than tissue paper, clear contact paper and glue. Read the book. Draw a rainbow fish shape on the clear contact paper with a pencil. Tear small pieces of a different colored tissue paper and stick them to the contact paper inside the pencil lines. Add small pieces of tinfoil for his sparkling scales. Cover the entire fish shape with the tissue and foil ̶0;scales.̶1; Cover the fish with a second piece of contact paper so that the tissue is sandwiched between the two pieces of clear plastic. Cut out the fish shape you drew with the pencil. Hang your fish up in a sunny window.

Fishing Frame

• Display your child̵7;s first catch with his own, handmade frame. Purchase a foam frame from your local craft store. Help your child draw a fish shape from a coordinating piece of colored foam. Glue the fish to one side the frame. Glue a small dowel to the other side of the frame as a fishing pole. Tie a foot-long piece of black string from the top of the fishing pole. Drape the string around the top edge of the frame until the end reaches the fish̵7;s mouth. Sandwich the free end of the string between the foam fish and the frame. Secure the string around the edge with small dots of glue. Put a picture of your child and his big catch in the frame. Write the date and location of the catch.