Are you reading Swimmy by Leo Lionni? Be sure to incorporate this cute, DIY Swimmy stamp craft! It’s fun for the kids & easy to set up!
My kids love reading books! And I love creating crafts and activities to go along with some of the books we read together!
Our latest book-related craft is about a little fish that reminds us of the value of teamwork!
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Swimmy by Leo Lionni is a wonderful little book that I enjoy reading to my kids! The book helps to remind kids about the importance and benefits of teamwork!
To avoid being eaten, Swimmy, a little black fish, and a school of little red fish work together to swim in a formation that looks like one giant fish – with Swimmy as the eye.
I just love the message that is portrayed within the book! Teamwork!
I have read this book to all of my kids during their kindergarten year. It’s always a favorite!
This year, with my youngest twins, I decided to incorporate a fun fish stamping craft to go along with the book!
We had loads of fun and I love how our craft turned out!
Swimmy Fish Stamping Directions:
First we made fish shaped bottle top stamps. To make the stamps, we used a piece of craft foam and cut it into small fish shapes.
Then we got some of our recycled bottle tops. (When my kids were young, I saved the lids and tops from most bottles and containers so we could repurpose them!)
Once you’ve got your foam fish shapes cut, adhere them to the bottle tops.
Regular white glue works well, but if you’ve got impatient kids, some double-sided tape or a glue gun can do the trick a lot faster! We used a glue gun!
Stamps are shown in the image below.
Next, I drew a big fish shape on white paper. You can see the faintly drawn fish in the photos below.
The boys stamped red fish inside the big fish drawn on the paper, which is great for those fine motor skills!
They continued stamping until the big fish was full of little red fish.
Then we used black ink to stamp Swimmy! He is the eye of the giant fish created by all the tiny red fish!
Next, we cut out the fish and glued it to blue paper! More fine motor skills practice!
Lastly, we glued Swimmy onto blue construction paper! I love how the craft turned out!
And, the kids had so much fun with the activity!
Alternative Swimmy Craft:
One of my boys wanted to make the blue paper look more like water so we grabbed some blue and white paint and some bubble wrap.
Here is Swimmy in the bubbly blue water! My son loves how his fish is different from his sibling’s fish! So creative!
Which do you prefer?
So, which one do you like best? Swimmy in the plain blue water or Swimmy in the bubbly blue water?
We love reading this book and our go-along craft activity was lots of fun! If you don’t already own Swimmy, be sure to look for it at your local library!
It’s a classic that will never grow old!
This post was originally published on April 14, 2013.
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Mama Jenn
Thanks Desiree! It was alot of fun!
Mama Jenn
Yep, I saw the idea of cutting and gluing the fish onto the page. In fact, I think we did that one year! But, the stamping is much easier and more fun!
Desiree
This looks like fun. I like the fish in the bubbly background, but both work!
kewkew
Oh, we just read Swimmy last week along with our Oo:Octopus unit for MFW. I wish I had seen this post earlier. What a neat idea. I had seen the idea of gluing on little fish in the shape of a fish, but I like this way better. I have never made stamps like this. Gonna have to try it.
Mama Jenn
Thanks! We have made all kinds of stamps this way! Love being able to recycle stuff in a fun way!
Nicole DeLeon
What a great idea! I love your simple way of making the stamps with products we always have on hand. Looks like fun too!
Mama Jenn
Thanks Jodi! We try to have a lil bit of fun! {grins}
Jodi Durr
Wow! I love this. What a great idea! Your kids must have had a blast.