Become “fishers of men” anytime or place! (Except in the rain or in the pool – the game is made of cardboard-  it would get soggy! lol!) This cute game is not only fun, but it’s also a great way to get kids to remember some key ideas of life. This fishing game is an old favorite for my kids! We made several different fishing boxes over the last 10 years and each has been well-loved! In the past, we have played this game at our All Saint’s Day parties, and it’s also been a fun activity on rainy days (indoors, not outdoors – again soggy!). It’s fun for toddlers who are learning the letter “F” and you might like to have this as a fun activity for the kids to play on St. Peter’s Feast days! It can be a great surprise!

This game was made using a cardboard box, which was decorated to look like fish in water. Don’t use real water it might get — ya that’s right– soggy! 

The box we used is 1.5′ x 2′ x 9”. We painted this box with medium-blue acrylic paint, but we have also made this in the past using blue construction paper or plain blue wrapping paper.

Then I used wavy strips of light blue paper to make “watery waves”.  I glued these onto the blue box. Then I added half-circles and half-ovals of brown paper to the bottom to make the “ground”.

I printed out the fish and seaweed patterns and colored them with markers.

Download above.

After cutting out the fish and seaweed I glued them onto the box.

All of the fish and seaweed patterns have extra-wide black lines for easy cutting. Just freely cut anywhere in the middle of the black area.  The wide lines help give it a clean look!

Then, print and cut out a few sets of fish to catch.  These are best printed on stock paper but will work with regular paper. (We used colored stock paper) I have two sets of patterns for these fish.

One set has virtuous actions and virtues written on them: Share, Be kind, Go to Mass, Pray, etc.

The other pattern has plain fish, so you can write your own ideas on the fish. You can add anything you want the kids to learn.

Download above

After you have written on the fish (if needed). Tape a paper clip to the back.

Then create a fishing rod. We made ours with a piece of bamboo, a string, and a magnet.

The magnet on the end of the string will “catch” the fish!