A fishy story

Adult-led activities

The fish who could wish by John Bush and Korky Paul (Oxford University Press, 4.99 paperback) tells of a fish with a vivid imagination, who makes amazing wishes. The story provides an excellent stimulus for encouraging children to share their wishes, to consider the implications of their own actions and to engage in imaginative artwork.

Wishful thinking

Share the story and make a sea frieze.

Key learning intentions

To begin to use language to recreate experiences

To use their imagination in designing a fish for an underwater frieze

Adult: child ratio 1: up to six

Resources

* Access to view some live fish * at least one copy of The fish who could wish, preferably in big book format * two large sheets of paper and a thick felt-tip pen to record the wishes * thin A4 card *pencils * large and/or medium shape templates, such as oval, triangle and square * scissors * paper of various colours, tones, finishes (matt and gloss) and textures - you may decide to limit the number of colours and increase the varieties of tone instead * blue or green cellophane * a stapler * glue * a long strip of paper for the frieze backing - plain/blue/green embossed wallpaper would be ideal * newspaper and wallpaper paste (if you wish to use papier mache for the rocks)