Friday, March 22, 2013

The Fishing Game - Guest post by Shruti (ArtsyCraftsyMom)


Games provide important skills for young children plus they are fun too. They also help teach children necessary life skills, such as cooperation, critical-thinking and motor control. Its amazing what you can make when you have the right materials. I love making easy DIY games with Lil P. We have made simple icecream catching game, the snakes and ladders and many more. Not only are DIY games low cost, they give children a sense of achievement. Here is an easy project for you to try at home. 



You'll need lots of pipe-cleaners in various colours, Glue, Googly eyes, Pom poms in different colours, magnets ,  sticks & satin ribbons - one each for as many  players you want to have. For demonstration purpose, we will stick to a single player - so I used one icecream stick, 1 ribbon & 1 magnet. 


First we'll make the fishes.. Take a pipe cleaner in any bright colour, Fold it in half, twist at the end to form the tail fin, then roll the other side around your thumb to form a circular hole.


Push a pom pom inside the circle & stick a large Googly eye to make the fish. To secure the pom pom , you can add additional glue. Craft glue or a Glue gun works best. 

For the Octopus, you'll need 4 pipecleaners, 2 each of the same colour. Fold the pipe cleaners in half and then twist them all to form a ball like structure with 8 legs. Bend the legs upwards & stick on 2 large googly eyes. 


For the star fish, twist a pipe cleaner in a zig zag - VVVVV with 5 points and then join the ends and press or twist to keep them in place. Stick on two small googly eyes. 


For the final  step, create a fun setup in a blue tub or bed spread.. Place some sand, some decorative stones, some sea shells .. we added in some colourful sequins to jazz it up. Glue the satin ribbon onto an icecream stick and stick a magnet at the other end. The magnet will help you 'catch' some pipe cleaner fishes. Who ever catches the maximum fishes in a minute wins. 


Happy Fishing! :)


Supplies Used: Click on the thumbnail below to visit the product page on our website.



8 comments:

  1. Such a creative and fun idea! Must do for the summer with my son - he will just LOVE IT!!! Thanks so much Shruti for this post - love having you GD for us!

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    1. Thanks Sunehra. Pls do share the pic when you do :)

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  2. Wow ! Fabulous idea of DIY game !I loved the cute fish,octoupus n starfish !

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  3. The expression on the little one's face says it all!! WOW!! And what super fun! I must show this post to Kuttu. I have never been able to figure out what to do with pom pom balls..now you have given so many ideas. Thank you Shruti .

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    1. It was super fun.. We made a couple for her friends too. :)

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  4. I love teaching children about Ocean Life. I created a numbers unit using Ocean Animals. This would be a fun thing to add to that.

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