If you are like us, you have cardboard boxes all over your house or piled up in your garage from the holidays. We had quite a few things shipped to us! Sure, you can recycle them but there are tons of different cardboard boxes crafts and activities that you can use them for first. When my kids were younger, I would make tunnels, cardboard forts, I even made a rocket ship when we got a new fridge a few years ago. Since they have left that phase but are all about games, I decided to make a big Go Fishing Game out of one of our larger boxes. This fishing game for kids was really simple to make and you more than likely have everything you need! We even used a wrapping paper cardboard tube for our fishing pole!
DIY Kids Fishing Game Tutorial
This DIY magnetic fishing game is so much fun. You’ll be amazed at how simple fishing games for kids really captivate their imagination. I think it is because it combines a survival/provider fun factor with an element of getting lucky. We all want to see what we can pull up on our try! If your kids are older, you can add point values to different fish and have them hidden on the back side!
Craft Supplies Needed For This Cardboard Box Game
- cardboard box
- cardboard tube/stick/small pole
- magnets (the larger the better)
- construction paper / cardstock / foam sheets (different colors are fun)
- string, ribbon, or pipe cleaners
- scissors
- glue stick
- marker/pencil
How To Make Your Let’s Go Fishing Game:
Grab all your supplies and head to a spot where you can spread out. The kids and I love doing our crafts on the floor.
If you want to decorate your Go Fishing Game box, do that first. We glued a couple of blue construction paper sheets on to the front of our box and I made a Go Fish sign. You and your child can decorate it however you would like!
Next, you will make your magnetic fishing rods. Grab you pole (which could be a wooden dowel or a gift wrapping tube) and tape a piece of string to it. Ribbon would work well too! If you are using thinner string, you might want to double it up. Attach one or two magnets to the end of the string by tapping them on. (The larger your magnets are, the easier it will be to catch your fish!)
Once you have done that, draw fish and let your child cut them out if he/she can use scissors. We used foam sheets for our fish so that they would be a little sturdier than construction paper. Cardstock would work well too. You could even make cardboard fish. If you are using magnets, glue a magnet on the fish in the eye area. Or you can use googly eyes as the eyes and attach a paper clip to the fish to serve as the magnetic component.
You just finished making your Go Fishing Game!
Drop your fish in the box and your children are ready to go fishing. Let the fun fishing games begin and let your child’s imagination run free!
Your DIY Fishing Game Is Ready!
This game is perfect for pretend play. When the fish are at the bottom of the cardboard box, it is like being at the bottom of the fish pond. Toddlers can play the game by standing close and looking at the fish and trying to line up the magnets. This is great for hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. You can also use this as an educational game to practice color recognition with preschoolers.
Young kids can stand further back and not see the fish for a more challenging play experience. They can take turns and see who get the most fish with a time limit of 1-3 minutes of fishing for each turn a child takes.
A great way to make it more fun for older children is to assign points to the fish and hide the points on the back of the little fish. Another variation on this homemade fishing game is to have the children make different species of fish to catch. They can write a few fun facts about each type of fish on the back of the fish templates.
I hope your kids enjoy this homemade toy set. I wish your children plenty of fishing fun! Does this sound like a pretty easy craft to make and fishing game for kids? Do you think your child would enjoy these fun fishing games?
This would also be a great game to make if you happen to be reading Red Fish, Blue Fish! Share your pictures with us @familyfocusblog!
Your kids may also enjoy these homemade seek and find games.
james anderson says
We sure do love our cardboard play! We make so much stuff out of it (you’ve probably noticed a few). Mostly something to play for the kids.