Move: Backyard Fishing

The smile on my little boy's face was priceless when I tiptoed into his room this afternoon and whispered,

"Wake up honey...we're going fishing in the backyard!"

No, we do not have a pond, or a creek, or even a large puddle in our yard (at least not one that's supposed to be there). BUT, we do have a baby pool and a hose. And, actually, a large bucket would have worked too. Here's what else you'll need to get that same smile from your little one...

1. Foam Sheets:

I folded these in half and cut them into the shape of fish. You can easily draw on the foam (if you want to), and can use the first one you make as a pattern for the rest. I did this while my kiddo was napping, but an older child would probably enjoy practicing their scissor skills on this fun, squishy material.

2. Magnets

Once the fish are cut out, add a magnet to the front and back. You can do this with a type of adhesive if you prefer; we just let the natural magnetic pull work it's magic!

3. A Dowel Rod (or Stick) and String.

Tie the string to one end of the fishing rod. Secure it with a few good knots, and make sure the string doesn't hang too low. Remember that your fishing buddy probably isn't quite as tall as you.

4: Couple More Magnets...

Splay the end of the string so that it is as flat as possible. Again, feel free to use a strong adhesive if you have it. My super glue seems to only come out easily when I don't want it to (which usually induces a minor panic attack), so I used the same technique that I did on the fish...natural magnetic attraction.

5. WATER!

Here are a few games that we played:

Catch Color Matches

Catch Biggest

Catch Smallest

Catch and Count

*Be careful when "releasing" caught fish. Magnets will come off of fishing line if pulled too quickly.

**After your little one is done fishing in the backyard, remove the magnets for fun bathtub fishy friends.