This is so easy you guys and it has been around for decades. Nothing new with this old paper craft, except your unique creations of different colored fish.

Supplies needed-

Large sticks and twigs.

Fishing wire, yarn or twine.

Paper clips

Paint

Tacky glue

magnets

Assorted beads for eyes or black puffy fabric paint.

Scraps of fabrics.

Decoupage glue or watered down school glue.

An old bucket.

Card stock or empty cereal boxes.

1. Use card stock or an empty cereal box to draw out fish in different sizes.

2. Once you have cut out your cardboard fish paint both sides.

3. Get out your scrap fabrics to pick pretty colors to decoupage onto your fish.

4. I picked really bright colors for this project.

Use your cardboard fish as a template to trace onto your fabrics.

5. Once cut out, decoupage onto cardboard.

6. Save your egg cartons, they are perfect to dry painted projects on.

With the extra fabric scraps, cut into tiny pieces to use for mosaic designs.

7. Just glue pieces onto cardboard like confetti. Comes out really pretty and colorful.

8. You can use just about anything when it comes to the eyes. I have tons of beads from grab bags at the thrift store. I use a lot of beads in my craft classes because it is perfect for fine motor skills and the little ones really love adding beads to their art projects.

9. I ended up using tiny black beads for some of my fish. You can use just about anything like tiny buttons, fabric paint, or a black marker.

Find twigs and sticks outside to use as a fishing pole.

Up north we have a lot of pretty Aspen trees everywhere to collect twigs from.

Once your children have picked out their fishing pole sticks have them wrap a string of twine to one end and glue in place.

Then glue a magnet to the end. Depending on how big or heavy your fish are, you should only need one button magnet. I usually say include all ages with my crafts, but anytime you are using magnets please make sure your kids are old enough not to chock or try eating magnets. Just to make sure things are extra safe maybe you can add a couple magnets to a little felt pillow and hang that from a string. You know, just use magnets to stuff felt square then sew up. That way it is too huge to swallow and chock on. Just being extra careful.

This is a fun craft to do out camping by a lake or at a park.

It keeps the kids busy and it is always nice being creative with nature.

My kids loved this game when they were little. Almost forgot, you need to add paperclips to your fish so the magnets can grab onto them when you fish them out of their bucket.

Happy crafting everyone.

Special note: This craft project has so many benefits to it. First I will start with the social skills end of it. Children with ASD usually have a hard time understanding taking turns, or just playing with others. This fishing game is a great way to introduce children to playing with others. It is not too difficult to understand how to play, so no frustrations or melt downs. Also, it gives the children confidence knowing the fish that they made are part of the game.

Use your fishing games for lessons on shapes, colors, numbers and even letters. There are just so many things you can do with this game. You can even play match games by writing simple words for the children to read and match to a similar fish they catch…you know, sight words. It is endless how much fun you can have with this simple craft project. I would love to take all the credit for this, but someone, many, many decades ago, made one of these up to teach their children and it continues to entertain children to this day. Remember, get outside and explore for these art supplies. Nature is too pretty to pass up on. The photo below is from Lynx Lake, Prescott Arizona. It was a beautiful day when we were there, everyone out reading books under a shady tree, having lunch at the picnic tables, out rowing, and lots of fishing. Always enjoy seeing families out spending time with one another.