DIY Fishing Game for Tots

I whipped this up during one of Bubbles' naps recently. I got this idea from a playgroup she goes to - it was such a hit with the kids!

What you need:

Pictures of brightly coloured fish (I Googled)

Large paper clips (the small ones require more hand-eye coordination and stronger magnets)

A magnet

Some string

An Ice-cream stick (or any equivalent)

What you do:

Laminate the fish pictures and cut them out (This is just for durability)

Slip a paper clip onto each of their mouths

Attach one end of string to the ice-cream stick. Use tape to secure.

Attach other end of string to your chosen magnet. Use tape to secure.

Tada! Now your tot can use the 'fishing rod' to 'catch the fishies'! Your very own fishing game :)

A whole lot of different things can be done with this. Have a who-catches-the-most-fish competition (with 2 or more kids). Learn about colours (Only the blue fishes!), numbers, or even types of sea creatures (if you print other stuff besides fish). You can even create a beautiful seabed base with fabric or crepe paper for your fishes to reside in. A whole underwater world.

I was really pleased that this took such little time to make!

Just to share, I did attempt to draw the fishes at first since that was how I saw it being done. Like this: 

Thankfully, I decided pretty quickly these weren't going to cut it, and printed photos off the Internet instead.

And guess what? When Bubbles woke up, she squealed upon seeing the colourful fishes. She then pointed at these red hand-drawn ones and said Not Nice, turned her attention to the colourful photos and said This Nice. She repeated the whole Not Nice - This Nice thing about 5 times.

Okay baby. Mummy agrees :) Thank God for the Internet.