Dr. Seuss's One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...

BreakFISH

So much can be done with the Dr. Seuss Books....  Because Ella is so young, I  have to keep it simple to retain her interest.

I cut out the appropriate number/color of fish in the book using construction paper.  It probably wouldn't hurt to glue them to cardboard because they bend easily.  I pushed a metal brad through the eye of the fish so she could fish them out of the "pond" bucket with her magnetic pole.   I also put numbers on each side to practice counting.
I had all the fish in the bucket when I introduced it to her, but will limit the amount next time to focus on the first three rows of fish and corresponding colors; once she's comfortable with those, we'll add more fish in the pond.  She had fun taking the fish off the line and placing them to the side so we could count the number of fish she caught.  

Happy Fishing

Still fishing for the "new" one...the baby fish.  

Going Fishing

Bought these cute little fish-shaped breads at the store today, and they inspired a little fishing trip.

Fish shaped bread will make eating a sandwich much more exciting.  I purchased the fish ice tray at Ikea;  Ella will have fun scooping the ice fish out of a pale of water--especially on a hot summer day.  I also colored some water with gel food coloring in the round tray and added the circle part of a metal brad to each (fingers crossed hoping this actually works), so she can fish them out of a pale of water with her magnetic fishing pole.  The other favorite food items are Goldfish saltines and cup-cake flavored grahams.  The orange gurgling fish pitcher came from Galveston Gallery.

Bathtub fishing:  I set aside letters that stick to the tub, squirting sea creatures, and oatmeal flakes for the "fish food."

Blue color wheel fish puzzle

Lacing

Word exercise

Additional languages:  Sign and Spanish

Magnetic Sea Puzzle by Melissa and Doug

Matching Exercise with small sea friend buttons

Coloring and more

Our little fish swam to the ladder, popped her head out of the water, and proudly proclaimed to her audience, "I did it"!

Some well intended activities don't always go as planned, but something always gets learned--and fun memories are made.  

The metal brads worked, but as soon as the ice began to melt...the brads were the first to go.  Since the magnetic fishing rod was no longer needed, Ella had her first experience "noodling."  Thanks Daddy!!!

Next, she scooped the fish-shaped ice from one bowl to the other.  

 After a bit, that got old...

...and she got thirsty.