We haven’t been doing many art projects as of late with the kids and they asked if we could make another shape animal. Austin and Addie both have gotten very good at role-playing. They can play for hours creating stories to go along with our creations.
While watching TV the other night I put together a few shape animals that the children had been requesting. They have so much fun piecing them together and using their imagination to tell us all about their new creations.
The first one they wanted to make was a fish. I decided on a heart for the base shape and the let the children choose what colors they wanted their fish to be. Austin choose violet, down to the shade while I was using PicMonkey to create them. Addie first wanted a green fish but settled on pink and yellow hearts.
I could only imagine the stories they would create about under the sea living with Nemo and friends.
To begin, you can have your children create their underwater background for their fish. This can be done with watercolor, crayons, markers, anything your little ones desire.
Take the chance to discuss what life is like under the water, what colors we would see, what they would want to add to their photos.
After your children have created their backgrounds, print off the Heart Shape Fish Activity page and have them cut out their shapes. You can print the fish in deep violet or pink and yellow.
Using a glue stick, position the large heart on the page with the top of the heart being the mouth of the fish. (We were out of gluesticks, GASP! they were actually dry so we used regular glue. Cool feature, when it dried, it changed some of the color of the scales, which the kids loved!)
Layer the smaller darker hearts as scales.
Starting at the tail, create four layers of hearts with each overlapping. You can start with either color but glue one scale to start and then add one to each row. So 1, then 2, then 3, and then 4.
Next add the heart for the tail, upper and lower fins an eye.
While their fish are drying, have them start thinking of a story to tell about the fish’s habitat, family and what it likes to do.
My children are always proud to see their masterpieces displayed on the fridge. As they catch a glimpse of it, they think of something else to add to their story. Isn’t it amazing what a few little shapes can create?