Ingredients:

• A bowl of water
• An aquarium fish net
• Different-colored plastic fish
• A towel

Prep Time:

• 5 minutes

Recipe for Fun!

Fill the bowl with water, place it on the towel and add the fish to the bowl. Have children use the net to scoop up the fish, one by one. Provide verbal instructions, such as, “Catch a blue fish,” “Match two yellow fish,” or “Find the smallest fish.”

Benefits:

• Auditory processing. As children listen, process, and respond to your verbal instructions, they develop auditory processing skills that are critical for engaging in conversations and for school success.
• Sorting skills. This activity helps children gain control and create order in their world. It also helps them differentiate between things that are alike and things that are different.
• Eye-hand coordination. Using the net to catch fish helps children track the movements of their hands with their eyes. This is necessary for reading (tracking the words on the page) and writing (controlling their hand movements as they write letters and words on paper).

Modifications:

For an easier time:

• Have children catch the fish with their hands rather than with a net.

Variations:

• Instead of plastic fish, use plastic letters or numbers to practice letter recognition, alphabetical order, simple spelling, number identification, number sequencing, even/odd numbers, and counting.
• Use objects that sink and float.