Keep reading for some fun preschool activities based on the story Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark. These activities are part of our Storytime Club, which includes 10 weeks of book-inspired activities. To learn more about our Storytime Club, click here!
We are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post contains affiliate links. Click HERE to read our full disclosure.
POUT POUT FISH ACTIVITIES
The Pout-Pout Fish is such a fun series! We loved the original when we first read it many years ago, but we also love all of the other Pout Pout Fish books that have come out since then. Preschoolers love Mr. Fish!
The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark is about Mr. Fish finding his courage to face the dark. After Ms. Clam lost her pearl, Mr. Fish promises that he’ll find it for her. But little did he know the pearl was down in the darkest part of the ocean. With a little help from Miss Shimmer, Mr. Fish is able to face his fears and find the pearl.
If your little one is scared of the dark, this is the perfect book for them! It shows them how to face their fears, and it also has a great message about friends helping each other out. Plus it rhymes, which makes it a great read aloud option.
Click on the picture below to learn more about this sweet book!
Check out all of these fun Pout Pout Fish activities that can help bring this story to life for your preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten littles! They can be used with this specific Pout Pout Fish book or any of the books in the series.
LITERACY: OCEAN COMPOUND WORDS
This is a great activity for your preschooler to build oral vocabulary skills as well as see how words go together to form new words. It’s great for little ones to play with language as often as possible.
Have your preschooler match the ocean animal cards together. Then have them look at the small pictures, such as the “cow” and “boy” on the shark. Have them figure out the compound word, “cowboy,” and mark it off their check-off sheet. (We used Swedish fish to mark off the words, which was way more fun that using a pencil!)
MATH: FISH BOWL COUNTING
When teaching our little ones to recognize numbers, it’s important for them to know there are multiple ways to show each number. For example, they might see the numeral “1,” but they might also see 1 tally mark, 1 picture, a hand showing 1 finger, 1 dot on a die, or 1 circle colored in a ten frame. But each of these is showing the exact same amount.
For this activity, preschoolers will find all the ways to show 1, then they’ll add the correct number of goldfish crackers to the fishbowl. I’ve included 6 ways to show each number (1-10), and I’ve also included goldfish clip art pictures in case you don’t have goldfish crackers to use for this activity.
FINE MOTOR: FISHING IN JELLO
This fine motor activity is perfect to go along with any Pout Pout Fish book, or you could also incorporate into your ocean theme! Using food is always a hit with my little ones, and adding in tweezers or tongs works those small muscles in the fingers, wrists, and hands.
Make a package of blue jello by following the instructions on the package. Then add in some Swedish fish before you put it in the refrigerator to set. Once it’s set, have your little one use tweezers or tongs to get the fish out.
GROSS MOTOR: FLASHLIGHT EXERCISING
Have you used flashlights with your little one before? It’s so much fun! Adding novelty items when practicing basic skills can really increase the engagement level of our preschoolers.
For this specific flashlight activity, you’ll assign an exercise or gross motor movement (like galloping or hopping) to each number on a die. Your little one with use their flashlight to light up a number, then do the exercise that corresponds to that number. It’s a fun way to get them up and moving AND practicing numbers at the same time.
CRAFT: PIPE CLEANER FISH AND PUFFY PAINT OCEAN
This ocean-themed craft turned out super cute! You could use this with Pout Pout Fish or any ocean book you have. You’ll print out the background and paint the ocean with puffy paint (shaving cream + white glue), then add pipe cleaner fish.
SNACK: FISH BOWL CRACKERS
How cute is this snack?! It would go perfectly with the Fish Bowl Counting math activity from this pack! Your little one will spread blue frosting onto a snack cracker, and then add goldfish crackers on top.
YOU TUBE: A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
This is the cutest sing-a-long to watch after reading The Pout Pout Fish. Your little ones will love it!
READING RESPONSE: JOURNAL WRITIG PAGE
Teaching our little ones to reflect on what they’ve read is a skill we want to start from the beginning. These journal writing pages allow them to draw and write a response to this story.
POUT POUT FISH PACK
All of the activities in this pack can be found in our Pout Pout Fish printable pack, which can be found in my shop here!
Do you love this story, too?! Do you have any fun activities that would be great for it? Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog] and let me know!
love these ideas? pin for later!
To check out more book-inspired activities, head over to our Storytime Club!
Happy Learning!
