Practice Counting

This Nursery Rhyme gives you a great opportunity to count to ten, in a fun and familiar way - you can help the children to begin to recognise the number names, and the order in which they come in... in a rhythmic way. You can extended in too... by counting with your fingers, or with numbered objects!

Real fish experiences...

Why not discover more about where fish live, how we can keep fish in a domestic situation, and where and how you can buy fish today. Perhaps you could consider providing your child with some of the following opportunities:

• Visit your local Oceanarium or Sea Life Centre. See the fish swimming around, compare sizes and colours, talk about the different types and discover their own personal favouites. Perhaps you can even meet the stars - will 'Nemo' be swimming around in a salt water tank - did they realise that Nemo was so small.... yet in comparison 'Lennie' the vegetarian shark is huge... did you meet him too?
• Visit an Aquatic centre and discover fish on a much smaller scale, find out which ones are friendly - like the 'Mollies' and admire the grace of the 'angel fish' but watch out as they may eat their tank mates. Perhaps you could purchase one to go in your tank at home, or a friends... and discuss how you would transport a fish.
• Perhaps visit a friend who has a fish tank, the children could help feed them, smell the dried fish food and see what it looks like, and even help clean out the tank !
• Or maybe you can visit the Fishmongers... see what fish is like laid out on the fish counter... smell the smells, notice the different colours, sizes and shapes and buy some to try... did they know that fish came in shapes other than 'fingers' ?

Fish is a great food to eat. It is so versatile and has so many different flavours, and if you don't like one sort, then children may like another, some fish are child size too !  Perhaps you could have a go at making your own fish nuggets, by coating fish pieces in breadcrumbs, or make a nice white sauce and bake a fish pie, or you could encourage the children to help flake up cooked fish to make a nice fresh salad.

Have a go at catching fish - fish poles are easily made from bamboo canes and string, add hooks (large safe ones) or magnets and you can provide an opportunity for children to practice their co-ordination skills. You can extend this activity by adding water, and seeing if what floats and what sinks, using the appropriate language.

• Have fun with sponge painting and stencils and make your own underwater scene... what did it look like at the Aquarium. Unwanted rolls of wallpaper, make fantastic huge underwater scenes.
• Visit the beach and listen to the sound of the waves
• Have a go at crabbing or catching real fish from a bridge - don't forget to remind everyone about the importance of water safety!
• Playing with the water tray... if you can add toy fish and real seaweed (fresh from the beach, or at certain times of the year you can buy it from the fishmongers.) Add Salt to the water too for a realistic taste!
• Make some fishy sewing cards - draw a fish and make holes around the edge with a hole punch
• Share the stories of the 'Rainbow Fish', and learn all about sharing and co-operating with others, perhaps you could make some fish with sparkling scales for all your friends, or to hang as a mobile over your bed.