Handprint Fish | Counting + Color Matching Craft
The kids have officially been on summer break for over 3 weeks now. Since we’ve had our fair share of lazy summer days, I decided it was time to start our “preschool at home” lessons. Each week I am choosing a different theme. We started things off with an ocean theme last week, which I thought was the perfect way to kick off the summer!
Our plan may evolve as the summer goes on, but here’s a quick look at what I’m doing with the kids. Every morning we are setting aside 45-60 minutes for our school time. I usually start things off with a book related to our theme of the week. Next, I have the kids do a worksheet or two. My 2 year old, London, is still a bit too young for typical preschool worksheets, so I usually offer her some paper + crayons or have her work on a “do-a-dot” worksheet. She’s obsessed with the dot markers, so this usually keeps her occupied while her big brother finishes up his worksheets. Lastly, we finish things off with a craft that relates to our theme.
Since my 4 year old is obsessed with Fruit Loops, I thought it would be fun to incorporate them into a color matching activity + ocean themed craft. So, I came up with this fun handprint fish craft. I don’t buy them very often, but when I do he is the happiest kid ever.
Here is what you’ll need to complete this craft:
Bubble Art Supplies
Cardstock
Liquid dish soap
Blue food coloring
Straw
Craft Supplies Needed
Cardstock
Finger paint + paint brushes
Elmer’s School Glue (I don’t recommend using a glue stick for this project)
Googly eyes
Fruit Loops
We started our craft by getting creative with some bubble art! My sweet friend and fellow mama blogger, Lu, from The Mama Workshop inspired me to give bubble art a try. If you aren’t familiar with bubble art, here is a quick & easy tutorial. I thought the bubble art we created would make a great ocean for our fish to swim in!
Since we were already outside creating our bubble art (and trust me, you’re going to want to do that outside), I decided to set up our craft station out on our patio. The kids had been fighting like crazy that day, and the fresh air did everybody good!
The kids each picked 3 colors for their handprint fish. We finished off the fish with googly eyes and little smiles drawn with a Sharpie.
Once everything was dry, we used Fruit Loops to make the scales on our fish (I went ahead and cut them in half prior to starting our project). This made for a great color matching activity.
I also incorporated a little counting practice by asking them to count out 5 scales for each fish. I had the kids glue down their “fish scales” and then had them count out 3 blue Fruit Loops for each fish (to be used as bubbles).
Afterwards we had a bunch of Fruit Loops left over, so I decided to set up a simple color matching activity. I used our rainbow silicone cupcake liners as sorters, poured a bunch of cereal on the table, and let them go at it! Easy peasy and the kids loved it (we didn’t have a purple liner so we improvised and used pink instead)!
We capped off our ocean themed lesson with one of our favorite Disney flicks, Finding Dory!
Are you doing any preschool at home activities this summer? If so, I’d love to hear what you are doing!
xo,
Sumer
43 Comments
Caitlin Patoka
How cute is that? School here ends next week and I will be needing fun ideas like these to keep the little ones busy! Thanks!
Sumer
Yay! Happy summer break to you!
Amy Blake
This is so great! I m always looking for new matching activities for my kids!
Ayanna @ 21FlavorsofSplendor
This is such a cute idea!! Although my girls are a little older, anything with paint and cereal would be a hit in our house. We will have to try this sometime this summer.
Sumer
Thanks, Ayanna! I hope you’ll try it with them! π
Angela at The Fancy Ranch Life
This looks like a cute activity! I love the bubble art portion!
Sumer
The bubble art was a huge hit here!
Tiffany
So cute! My kids will love this!!
Meredith ~ The Papery Craftery
Those are some happy fish! I’ll have to steal these ideas to help entertain my littles this summer. Thanks for sharing!
Sumer
Steal away! π Hope you enjoy the craft with your littles!
Belle
Those are so cute! Will absolutely try this with my kids!
Belle | One Awesome Momma
Carrie Wiley
So cute! I think all of my kids will love this! Love that it includes a craft for them and game to continue to play later!
Sumer
Thanks so much, Carrie!
Whitney Pegram
Sumer! This is SO stinkin’ cute!! Thank you for sharing!
Sumer
Thank you so much, Whitney! π
Jaclyn Quinones
This is a really cute idea that my kids would love!
Sumer
Thanks, Jacki! I hope you’ll give it a try with them!
Krystal @ Simple Finance Mom
This is too cute! And your kids are adorable!!
Sumer
Thank you, Krystal! π
Amanda
Too, too cute! I love this idea. I think the kids would totally love this.
Sumer
Thanks, Amanda! I hope you’ll try it with them!
Joleen
Cute idea, educational and fun!
Aseky Bonnaire
HOW CUTE!!! I love this craft/activity. I will be doing this with all my boys this week!
Sumer
Yay! I’m so glad! Hope your boys enjoy it! π
Cayla Daniels
So stinking cute!! I love handprint fish crafts!
Sumer
I do, too! I’m a sucker for handprint crafts. Thanks, Cayla!
Clair
What a cute learning craft! Need to do this with my kids π
Jessica Peresta
So cute! I love finding new crafts to do with my kids.
Kristen
What a cute idea!! Love this, so much fun!
Sumer
Thanks, Kristen! π
Charissa | thenotsobusymom
Love this!! I have a preschooler and then 2 elementary age kiddos. We hope to do a lot of reading this summer! I think some activities that tie in with the theme of certain books might be a fun option for us!
Sumer
I love that idea! We are big book lovers over here, too!
Heydy
What a super cool idea!!! I love how you are incorporating themes!
Leslie
These are super cute! My 2 and 3 year old are also obsessed with the Dot Art. Whoever came up with that was definitely a mom! Fruit Loops and Trix take the cake at our house. I will have to try this with all 4 kids. I think they’d love it, and we need more constructive down time. I look forward to checking out next weeks theme!
Sumer
Totally! Dot Markers for the win! Thanks so much for reading, Leslie!
Janette Shearer
This is such a great idea! So Cute! Sending to my SIL so she can do it with the kids this summer! Thanks for sharing!
Sumer
Thanks, Janette! Hope she enjoys it!
Krysten
My kid would have so much fun with these art projects! I need to do them with him. He’s in love with fish right now, as well, so that’s an added bonus!
Sumer
My daughter is obsessed with fish right now, too! She LOVES Dory!
Danielle @ A Sprinkle of Joy
This is such a fun activity!! Love it so much. π
Sumer
Thanks, Danielle!
Anna
What a creative lesson and so much fun for the children. Pinning this for later.
Sumer
Thanks, Anna! π