Fishing

Age group

3-5 yrs

Number of children:

3-7 ppl

Theme: Discovery, Problem solving

Developmental area: Communication and socialization, Language skills, Motion and motor skills

Areas it develops: problem solving skills, learning about order, planning, fine-motor skills, concentration and focus, categorizing, vocabulary, using of tools

Fishing out small objects from a bucket using different kinds of tools. This game is a great way to develop fine motor skills and problem solving skills. Once everything is out, the objects should be categorized.

Ingredients

  • two middle sized bowls
  • water
  • colorful lids, orks, buttons, ping-pong balls
  • plastic animals
  • wooden spoons, forks, sticks, spatulas

Fishing them out

Instructions:

Fill up two middle sized bowls with water. In one of them place colourful lids, corks, buttons, ping-pong balls, and in the other place plastic animals (elephant, giraffe, fish, dog, cat, dinos…)

Everyone should pick their own tools: wooden spoons, a fork, a stick, a spatula… and then the fishing can begin! Tools can be switched along the way.

Let's categorize!

Instructions:

Once all of the objects have been fished categorize them as we wish. The adult should give the first idea (colour, size, surface…), says what they would put in that category (2-3 pieces), but the kids have to figure out the rule of categorization just by looking at the objects.

Pro tip: This is a great activity for those kids, who experience difficulties when they have to cooperate or play with someone. The adult has a coordinator role: children have to wait for their turn and follow the rules, which should be settled in advance. For example we should discuss that every time we play someone else will start and also who will be the first to start the game. The number of items fished out should be discussed too. If the child with said difficulties was the first one to start they cannot start again in the second round! If we play this on different days make sure that the child with the issues gets to be first sometimes, but not always!