Here's a great weekend craft for the whole family to enjoy. These fishe were designed to teach children the sounds of the Arabic alphabet with their corresponding letter symbol.
There are 56 fishes to cut (letters + sounds); so the more little hands you have helping you, the quicker you'll be at making this. Bismillah!
What you need:
- Fish game printable
- Paper and printer
- Paper raffia or twine
- Paper clips
- Mini hole punch
- Scissors
- Wooden skewers or dowel rods
- Optional: Laminator and laminating pouches
How to make:
Step 1. Download the
Free Alphabet Fish Printable, print and cut out all the fish. Optional: Laminate fish to make it last longer (highly recommended).
Step 2. Match up each letter with it's sound.
Step 3. Line the fish up (white sides facing each other), hold firmly and hole punch each fish as shown.
Step 4. Thread paper raffia through each hole. Make this a little easier by wrapping some tape around the end of the raffia so it can easily go through the holes.
Step 5. Tie a loop at the end; the bigger the loop, the easier it will be catching the fish and vice verser.
Step 6. Open and then bend the paperclip to make the hook (see above picture).
Step 7. Use the twine or raffia to attach to rod. For younger children it's best to keep the length short to make it easier to catch the fish.
If catching the fish is too easy, try not threading the pairs together; rather leave them as they are and try catching the fish with its matching sound/letter. To make fishing more challenging and exciting, add a 30-40 second time limit for each person.
These are just a few other ways you can play with these fish;
Thinking Aloud Game- After catching the fish, children can verbalise the letter caught. If that's too simple, ask them to think of an Arabic word starting with that letter.
Match to Match - If you haven't threaded the fish together; lay them flat on the table (white side facing upwards). Take turns flipping one fish over and then finding the matching fish. If it's a mismatch, it's the next persons turn.
Memory Game - Try placing 2-3 fish on a tray and show the children. Cover after 5- 10 seconds, (this allows enough time for the children to memorise what's on the tray). Now the children must verbalise what they've seen; if they remember.
We'd love to see your little fish! Feel free to comment below. Enjoy!
