Kids Reading and Math: Fishing for Letters and Numbers

We were stuck at home on a really hot day (with a semi-sick kid) and I had to come up with a bunch of activities on short notice to keep him happy and entertained.  I made up a game to go fishing!

First, I put the blue sheet down for the water.  Then, I started putting the letters on the sheet with the magnet face up.  We used the plastic letters with the magnets which were nice because there was a specific place to aim for and the fishing pole. 

But my son pointed out that he couldn't sit in the water to go fishing so we used a pillow lily pad.

We had the fishing pole from our Melissa and Doug magnet fishing game so we used that one.  We had a friend come over another day so I made a second in case the boys couldn't share and needed to fish at the same time.  The fun thing is that they are easy to make with a piece of yarn and a paper clip.  If you need it to be more magnetic to pick up your letters, add a few paper clips.  It can also be tied on to a stick to look more like a fishing pole.  Here is what my simple one looked like:

We played a few different games.  The first was my son picking up a letter and then we would come up with an animal or vegetable that started with that letter.  Then, I started asking him for the letter that was at the beginning of words so that he would have to know the letter and look for it.  This helps practice letter sounds too!  It also worked on his hand eye coordination (and patience) to get the letters.  It was lots of fun for both of us!

Then, he decided that he should spell words.  If I was prepared, I would have pulled out the cards and have him pull out specific words but he started with his name...his favorite word to spell.  He laid them out in front of him on the lily pad.  Then, he put it all back in.  I will be better prepared next time :)

Because we had so much fun on the letters, I searched for the numbers.  We made two ponds on either side of the lily pad.  We did mix in some of the solid magnets with the plastics in order to have enough numbers..those are harder to come by in our collection.

Then, we decided to do addition and subtraction.  He picked up each number and did the math.  It was fun but it took awhile to do the whole math problem.  After that, I gave him the math problem and he gave me the answer.  It was much better to do it that way and it kept his interest longer.  Great way to do numbers or math based on what stage your kids are at in their learning.

Check him out getting very serious about his fishing!

I thought that it was a super easy activity and educational.  We got our magnets in a bunch of different places.  The plastic ones came from a consignment sale which we got super cheap.  We got a set as a gift from my son's preschool and the last set came with the Melissa and Doug magnetic board that I got with diaper points (those diaper points add up to nice things...I even got the Melissa and Doug puzzle with diaper points). 

If you have some, letters and numbers around the house, I hope that you try out this game and see if your little ones will be as entertained as mine was!!!  If you don't, I saw a package at the Dollar Tree so you can have loads of fun for just $1!!!  You can also make paper letters and attach cut up old magnets on the back of them if you have more time on your hands.  There are so many great options.  I hope that you try some fishing with your little one soon.