Children's Fishing Game Project

by Mary Ruthven
(Palm Coast, FL.)

The fish and sea creatures, each with a paperclip

If you want to make homemade gifts for kids then this project is for you!

My grandchildren LOVE getting handmade gifts and toys from me (Bless their hearts!) and I challenge myself each time, to come up with something inexpensive but yet something they will love. (I have 5 grandkids.) I made a HIT with this one!

Skill Level: Easy

Materials

White cardstock or light cardboard (your choice)

Coloring pencils, crayons or markers (your choice)

Large paper clips

Clear contact paper(optional)

Small dowel

1 magnet(strong enough to stick to paper clips)

Piece of string

Directions:

Draw and color fish and sea life. You do not have to be an artist. Children will love your imagination!

The number of fish is your choice. I suggest that if the child is younger, limit them to six or so. If older, the sky is the limit.

For my older ones, I also wrote a number on the back of each fish. I even put "lose a turn" and "throw all your fish back" on some. This made it more of a game for them.

My youngest is two and he loves just "hooking them!"

I cut the fish out and covered each with clear contact paper. This will make them last a long time.

Slide a paper clip onto each fish. I gave each clip a few stitches at the curved end to keep them on for my youngest grandson. You are able to do this if they are covered with the contact paper.

To make pole, put glue on 3 or 4 inches at one end of dowel. Wrap one end of string over glue. Let dry. I covered the string with electrical tape, putting a dab of glue under end of tape just to protect string from coming undone. At other end,tie on magnet. I put mine in a little piece of material, gathered it and tied end of string to it.

This game will keep them interested for hours!

Tip: It's a great project to make with the kids. Let them draw and color their own fish or cut them out of a coloring book.

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Check out more of Mary's craft ideas on her website www.craftingtales.com.

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Comments for
Children's Fishing Game Project

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Dec 29, 2010

Woo-Hoo
by: Anonymous

What a cute idea. My grandkids (8 and 5) got fishing poles for Christmas and it's too cold to use them right now. These fish might be a great way for them to practice!

Jan 01, 2011

Fun idea
by: Christine

What a fun idea. I am sure that my grandchildren would love this gift. Thank you for the great idea!!!

Nov 21, 2011

Use Free Colouring Pictures
by: Janet

This fishing game is a great idea and something we did when my children were younger. A suggestion: instead of drawing the fish you can find lots of free colouring pictures of fish and other sea creatures (eg. octopus, starfish, shells etc for variety) on the internet, or use colour pictures if you don't want to colour them in. Just resize them to the size you want and get several on one page. You could also laminate them instead of using the sticky covering film.

Oct 08, 2012

Alternative to paperclip and alternative to fish shapes
by: Raeyle

If you have younger children and you don't want to use paperclips because they still think all objects are mouth friendly- you can try using staples. You can put a staple in the middle or top of each fish or animal instead of a paperclip.
You would have to try with one to see if you need to make lighter fish for this to work or use a stronger magnet.

You can also do this with square cards have pictures on them-some of fish and other sea creatures and some with boots, cans, trash, submarines and other non- sea/water creatures or objects. You can also throw in a few cards that have on worms or bait that allow the child to take another turn at fishing. Or cards that have rewards or penalties like lose a turn, worm crawled into shoe- take another turn. Have fun making up your own.

The cards are put face down and the staple or paperclip would have to be attached so it can be reached by the fishing pole when the cards are face down.
The children take turns fishing for as much fish as possible.
You can also make a go fish variation by having 2 of each of the fish and sea/water creature cards- 1 card with the staple/paperclip and the other in a stack.
The cards in the stack are shared out between the children and the children fish to find the ones that matches the cards they have in their hands.
I would still leave in the boot, submarine, diver and other cards to make the game more challenging and fun!!
Love the original idea!

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