Fun with Fish

INSIDE : Learn how to sew a simple Easy Fishing Game for your children! This is a beginner sewing project for any skill level.

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My little guy just turned ONE.  Honestly, where has the time gone?  As I had done with his older sister, I wanted a fun theme for his small first birthday celebration and I decided on a fish party theme.  

Now, I am not one to head to a party store and buy up the “birthday” section so, I started my search for all things bubble or “fish” early.  Today I am sharing this fun with Fish Magnetic Fishing pole craft toy that I made him.

Supplies needed for a Magnetic Fish and Pole

• Four different fun fabrics
• Small amount of pillow stuffing
• 2 pieces of gray felt
• Gray bakers twine
• Strong magnets
• Metal washers
• 2-12″ Wooden dowel rods
• Sewing scissors
• Sewing machine
• Acrylic Paint + Brushes
• Paper bag (or any scrap paper) to draw pattern on

How to make a Magnetic Cloth Fish

To make these cute cloth magnetic fish, I drew basic shapes on scrap paper and traced those onto my fabric.  

After cutting them out, it was a simple sewing project.  I simply did a straight stitch on my sewing machine (you could do this by hand as well, but it would take much longer) around the entire fish.

However, make sure to leave a small opening to fill your fabric fish with pillow stuffing and ALSO inserted 3 or 4 metal washers at the nose of the fish. This helps to “attract” the hook’s magnet.

You can go as elaborate or simple on your fish as you would like. As you can see below, I kept my fish very simple.

You could add buttons or stitching for eyes, you could do different fabrics for fins and gills or add ribbons as well.

How make a kid’s magnetic fishing pole

Next, I drew on a piece of paper the shape I wanted for the fishing pole hook and then traced those onto the felt and cut them out.  

I left a small opening near the top, so I could slip magnets into each one.  Be sure to test that your magnet is strong enough to attract the fish before you sew anything up.

I then knotted three pieces of baker’s twine together and stuck it in the hook opening before sewing it close.

This is the final fishing pole hook. I think it’s important to sew your magnets into the felt, so there is no worry of small children maybe swallowing magnets. Better to be safe here than not.

Painting your fishing poll dowel rod

I painted the dowel rods in fun striped patterns and then hot glued the hook and line to the end of the rod.  Then, I wrapped a thin ribbon around the line and hot glued that as well.

The finished product is cute as could be!

Now head over to my Fish Themed Birthday Party to see how it all come out, such fun!

Looking for other Creative Birthday party ideas? Check out some of my others.