Fishing Fun!

Begin by asking children if they have ever gone fishing?  Where did they go and what did they do?  What do people use to catch fish?  Where do fish live?  Have they ever eaten fish?  Create a mock fishing lake for children to go fishing in the classroom.  Create paper or cardboard fish.  Cut fish shapes out, allow children to color them, attach Velcro.  Create fishing poles with sticks or doles, attach line and attach Velcro to line to catch the fish with.  Provide other fishing gear for children to become familiar with such as real fishing poles, lures (without hooks), fishing vests, tackles boxes, life jackets and fish measuring rulers.  Allow each child time to go “fishing”. 

Explore the wonderful world of fish as a class.  Set up an aquarium or fish bowl so children can watch how fish move, eat and breathe.  Look at pictures of different fish, read books about fish and if possible visit a local fish hatchery, pet store or aquarium.

Take children on a fishing trip to a local lake or pond.  If possible have a fish fry with fish they caught (have back-up store bought or previously caught fish).  Allow children to taste the fish they caught.   

Have children go “fishing” for their snack!  You will need goldfish crackers, pretzel sticks and dip or spread.  Dip pretzel sticks (fishing pole) into dip or spread (bait) and use it to “catch” the goldfish crackers.  See how many fish you can catch at a time!

For this and other great ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “Fishing Fun!”

Book List

Arnosky, J. 1993. Crinkleroot's Twenty-five Fish Every Child Should Know. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Clements, A. and Yoshi. 1997. Big Al. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Cook, B. 2005. The Little Fish that Got Away. HarperCollins.

Gall, C. 2006. Dear Fish. Little Brown Books for Young Readers.

Gallimard, J. 1998. Fish. Scholastic.

Harris, T. 2000. Pattern Fish. Millbrook Press.

Heinrichs, A.R. 2003. Fish. Coughlan Publishing.

Lionni, L. 1974. Fish is Fish. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Lionni, L. 1973. Swimmy. Random House Children's Books.

Long, E. 1987. Gone Fishing. Houghton Mifflin.

Pfeffer, W. 1996. What's it Like to be a Fish? (Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science 1). Harper Trophy.

Pfister, M. and J.A. James. 1999. Rainbow Fish. North-South Books.

Prosek, J. 2004. A Good Day’s Fishing. Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing.

Quigley, M. 2007. Granddad’s Fishing Buddy. Dial.

Reed-Jones, C. Salmon Stream (Sharing Nature with Children Book).

Sayre, P. 2007. Trout, Trout, Trout: A Fish Chant. Northword Books for Young Readers.

Stockdale, S. 2008. Fabulous Fishes. Peachtree Publishers.

Turnage, S. and J. Stevens. 1984. Trout the Magnificent. Harcourt Children's Books.

Wells, E. 2006. Wishing I was Fishing. Beaver’s Pond Press.

Winner, C. and B. Lehnhausen. 1998. Trout. Lerner Publishing Group.

Wood, A. and B.R. Wood. 2004. Ten Little Fish. Blue Sky Press (AZ).

Yoo, T. 2007. The Little Red Fish. Dial.