45 Fun and Inventive Fish Activities For Preschool

Fish are intelligent creatures, with great memories and incredible sensory capabilities. This collection of inventive crafts, engaging lessons, fun games, science experiments, and numeracy and literacy-based activities is a wonderful way for preschoolers to connect with the wonders of the undersea world.

1. Foil Fish Art

The foil material for these glittering fish looks beautiful when painted n bright colors. Why not create a whole ocean full of them?

Learn more: Nurture Store

2. Celery Stamp Colorful Fish

Who thought that a stalk of celery could result in such beautiful fish scales?

Learn more: Crafty Morning

3. Bottle Cap Colored Fish

This favorite fish craft idea is a fun and creative way to reuse plastic bottle caps.

Learn more: All Free Kids Craft

4. Flannel Fish Puppets

These adorable flannel fish puppets can help bring any favorite fish theme book to life! They also make a great addition to any children’s theatre production.

Learn more: Storytime Katie

5. DIY Fishing Pole

This DIY fishing pole is a hands-on way to develop coordination and fine motor skills while having lots of fun.

Learn more: Make It and Love It

7. Handprint Fish Activity

Kids can’t get enough of handprint crafts. Add some bubbles, seaweed, and coral for a beautiful ocean scene.

Learn more: Simple Everyday Mom

8. Beautiful Rainbow Fish Art

This unique weaving fish craft looks a lot trickier to make than it actually is. All you need is paper, glue, and some dextrous fingers. Learn more: Crafty Morning

9. Preschool Fish Theme Activity

This fish counting activity repurposes colorful goldfish crackers to teach sorting, counting, and graphing skills. Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers

10. Matching With Paper Fish

Kids are sure to love this colorful fish matching game, which is also a great way to develop visual discrimination and memory skills.

Learn more: Mama Jenn

11. Picture Book Craft

Rainbow Fish is the classic story of a fish with beautiful shiny scales and the inspiration for this creative lesson on color discrimination. Learn more: Mom It Forward

12. Fish Pattern Collage Craft

Kids will love ripping up scraps of old scrapbook paper to decorate this textured, colorful fish. Complete your design with a googly eye or two for a real-life look.

Learn more: Little Family Fun

13. Porcupine Fish Paper Plate Craft

This adorable fish paper plate craft is a wonderful opportunity to learn about porcupine fish who blow themselves up to double their size to scare away enemies.

Learn more: Fun Family Crafts

14. Fishing For Letters Game

Build important literacy skills such as letter identification and phonetic awareness with this hands-on “seek and find” fishing game.

Learn more: The Kindergarten Connection

15. Fish Name Tags

Putting together these name puzzles is a great way for kids to learn the alphabet by exploring words and names that are personally meaningful.

Learn more: Toddler Approved

16. Craft Stick Fish 

Sticking together the popsicle sticks for this craft can be a little tricky but adding fish lips, googly eyes, and pops of color is sure to be loads of fun!

Learn more: DIY Thought

17. Playful Learning Activity

All you need for this clever fishing game are some colored coffee filters and magnets. Challenge your preschooler to catch the fish in order from 1-10 or fish for specific numbers.

Learn more: Messy Little Monster

18. Paper Bag Fish Craft

This repurposed paper bag fish, stuffed with old newspapers is a great opportunity to teach children about the importance of recycling. Why not add some pipe cleaner, glitter, or sequins for an extra eye-catching look?

Learn more: Easy Preschool Craft

19. Fish Word Building 

These adorable fish cutouts are a great way to teach consonant-vowel-consonant or CVC words while building core literacy skills.

Learn more: Teachers Pay Teachers

20. Cardboard Fish Art

What better use for extra cardboard than these vibrant, colorful deep-sea creations?

Learn more: Deep Space Sparkle

21. Water Gun Painted Fish

This unique painting tool works great with watercolor paint and would be best to complete outside in order to give kids ample space to create without worrying about a messy cleanup.

Learn more: Toddler Approved

22. Fish Fridge Magnets

This colorful fish craft puts a creative twist on styrofoam trays and magnets to create some adorable fish magnets kids can display with pride.

Learn more: Happy Hooligans

23. Tissue Paper Fish Bowl Lantern

Blue tissue paper transforms into water, orange into tiny fish, and green into seaweed to create this beautiful, glowing lantern.

Learn more: Juggling with Kids

24. Color Match Sticker Activity

This is a simple and easy fish puzzle designed to improve color recognition, sorting, and matching skills.

Learn more: Active Littles

25. Fishing For Letters

This fun fishing activity is a great way to develop hand and eye coordination while learning about letters, all while enjoying an immersive sensory experience.

Learn more: Active Littles

26. Dr. Seuss Inspired Game

This hands-on game is inspired by the classic Dr. Seuss children’s book, One Fish, Two Fish. Kids will love playing with dice while practicing their number and color identification skills.

Learn more: Mama Miss

27. Fish Count and Clip Cards

This low prep activity requires only counters of your choice, whether pom-poms, unfix cubes, or dot stickers, and makes for a great hands-on way to build number recognition skills.

Learn more: Rock Your Homeschool

28. Fingerprint Fish Math Craft

Kids can’t get enough of fingerprinting! This educational craft teaches counting skills, number identification, and one-to-one correspondence by giving them a chance to create neat fingerprint bubbles.

Learn more: Schooltime Snippets

29. Sing a Slippery Fish Song

This fun song will have kids laughing all throughout. It’s a musical way to learn about all sorts of under the sea creatures while developing oral language skills and boosting speaking confidence.

Learn more: The Inspiration Edit

30. Name Recognition Craft

This is an excellent way for preschoolers to expand their sensory skills without making a big mess. They are sure to enjoy exploring all the diverse textures and colors while developing awareness of their own names.

Learn more: Modern Preschool

31. Learn How Fish Breathe

Feathery coffee filters are a creative way to teach young learners how fish gills work.

Learn more: Preschool Powol Packets

32. Fingerprint Fish Number Lesson

Enjoy all the fun of fingerprinting without any of the cleanups. This hands-on learning activity is a great way to practice number recognition skills.

Learn more: Playdough to Plato

33. Fishing for Letters Sensory Bin

This creative multi-step activity features a free printable of sight words for kids to dig up and find. It’s an excellent way to develop word recognition skills.

Learn more: The Kindergarten Connections

34. Fish in the Bowl

This easy, low-prep activity challenges your preschooler to place the correct number of fish in the bowl. It can be converted into a matching game and is a wonderful way to reinforce number recognition and counting skills.

Learn more: number recognition

35. Pout-Pout Fish Literacy Activity 

This children’s favorite Pout-Pout Fish is the inspiration behind this educational compound word activity. It’s a great way to build core grammar skills while developing reading fluency.

Learn more: Littles Love Learning

36. Practice Fish Drawing

Breaking this fish drawing into several simple steps is a great way for kids to get good artistic practice while developing drawing confidence.

Learn more: I Heart Crafty Things

37. Cupcake Liner Fish

This clever craft repurposes cupcake liners for artistic fun. Just add some bubbles and you’ve got a beautiful piece of ocean art!

Learn more: I Heart Crafty Things

38. Rainbow Fish Read Aloud

This classic read-aloud can be paired with a reader’s response discussion to connect the themes of sharing, kindness, and empathy to children’s daily lives.

Learn more: Story Time at Awnie’s House

39. Make your Own Fish Aquarium

This simple recycled craft produces some glimmering results. Kids can let their imagination run wild and have a blast creating their own fish scale patterns.

Learn more: Super Simple

40. Bubble Wrap Print Fish 

Printing with bubble wrap creates a beautiful, textured effect that kids will be eager to display!

Learn more: The Imagination Tree

41. Clothespin Fish

With four different colorful designs, these clothespin fish are a great addition to any dramatic play activity and an easy way to get kids practicing oral language skills.

Learn more: Easy Peasy Fun

42. Mason Jar Aquarium

These vibrant mini aquariums don’t require any real tank maintenance and give kids plenty of opportunities for creative expression. Why not let them accessorize with mermaids, seaweed, and bubbles?

Learn more: Crafts by Amanda

43. Fish Tank Craft

Kids will love assembling this 3D tank, which gives them lots of room for creative expression and imaginative play.

Learn more: Nurture Store

44. Fish in the Sea Counting Activity

This fast-paced game repurposes an egg carton into a colorful game board. It challenges learners to put the correct number of fish into each section as fast as they can.

Learn more: Oh Hey Let’s Play

45. Fish Heart Craft 

This heart-shaped fish craft is a fun way to talk about the importance of emotional intelligence and empathy with young learners.

Learn more: Simple Mom Project