Goin' fishin'

When I was younger, my mom had a fishing pole. It was not a real fishing pole but it was so much fun. It only came out on special occasions and there was always a fun lesson that went with it.

As I was lying in bed one night, I decided my daughters needed one too!

So here's the materials:

Paper
Wire hanger
Some sort of thread
Paper clips
Scissors
Magnet (not in picture)

Unbend the hanger so it's straight.

Cut the thread to desired length and tie it around one end of the straightened hanger.

Tie a magnet around the loose end of the thread.

I would suggest a stronger magnet than the one in this picture. We ended up having to replace it with a stronger one to get the "fishing" to work.

Cut out fish shapes (or whatever shapes you want!) from the paper and attach a paper clip to each. For durability I would suggest laminating the paper.

Now have your child go fishing!

Notice there is a different magnet attached to the pole here.

To make this a learning activity:

Talk about the color of the fish once they get one.

Cut out shapes instead of fish and have the child tell you which shape they have just caught.

With paper clips, it's really easy to slide a piece of paper between the fish and the paper clip. You can write numbers on paper and slide them in and then talk about the number they have just fished. You can write just about anything and modify this activity for what you are trying to teach.

You can hide the fish behind a curtain to make it harder to catch the fish.

This is also a great group activity. It teaches younger kids to take turns and they all love to line up to get a chance to fish.



Have fun catching your fish!