Fish

Always fun to do a fishing storytime. There are so many good fish books and activities!

Books:

• Trout, Trout, Trout by April Pulley Sayre
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni
• The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
• Big Al by Andrew Clements
• Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert  

The favorite in my household is Trout, Trout, Trout. Wonderful, hilarious illustrations pair with a chant of fish names. It flows so well, both my kids had it memorized very quickly. But it's much better the more you read it and are familiar with it. So the favorite of the storytime kids ended up being The Pout Pout Fish, which lends itself well to over-the-top storytelling with a great frowny face every time you read the "pout pout fish" refrain. 

Activity:  

• Use the song "Goldfish" by Laurie Berkener and have the kids dance and act out the words. Great silly song that the kids will love. 
• Thumbprint goldfish craft. Print out a fishbowl, have kids put their thumbs in orange paint and stamp in the bowl. Add eyes, fins, etc. with marker after the paint dries.
• Rock painting. Have pictures of various sea creatures out, let kids pick out a rock and paint it to resemble a shark, sponge, pufferfish, or other. I made this a faster craft by having the rocks all pre-painted with a solid color, so the kids just had to paint on eyes, fins, and any other details, or glue on googly eyes.

This theme was used the week of June 7, 2010.