how to: fishing game

28 Jan

Here’s a shisomama first: a collaborative project between F and me! A little while back, F had this brilliant idea to create a fishing game for Otis. The kid adores sticks and always picks them up on our walks (he even has a bucket outside the door for them), and he often tells us he’s “fishing” with them. So hey, why not make him a game that enables him to wave long sticks around the breakable things INSIDE our house? It was fun working on a creative project together. Here’s what we did (Sorry for the poor quality of many of the pictures – it was relentlessly rainy while we were working this past weekend. Though I guess you could say it’s the perfect rainy day project.):

F bought two 3/8″ dowels (so that Otis could play his game with a friend) and used a hand saw and cut them down to about 28″ inches. Then he used his drill to make a small hole at one end.

drill a hole into dowel

On the other end, he used blue duct tape to create a “handle.” (You can also use bicycle handlebar tape, which comes in a variety of colors.) To make it look nice, he cut a circle out of duct tape and then notched it so that it would look streamlined when it was smoothed over the sides.

cover end of dowel with blue duct tape

Then he cut a long strip of duct tape and wrapped the “handle” in one long piece.

make a duct tape handle

To make the “fishing line” he ran a piece of embroidery floss through the hole that he drilled and tied a couple of knots to keep it in place.

tie

At the end of the embroidery floss, he attached a small stack of 1/2″ magnets to create the “bait hook.” He covered them with duct tape as well, using the same notching method as the handle. On the top of the magnets, he slit the duct tape to the middle, to allow for a tidy look where he ran the embroidery floss. After taping the top and bottom, he trimmed a piece of duct tape to wrap around the sides as well.

cover magnets with duct tape

For the fish, I drew a very basic fish pattern and cut it out in several different fabrics. I stitched them together, leaving a 1/8″ seam allowance and turned them inside out, with the tails open. In each fish, I inserted a 1/8″ x 1″ zinc washer (I chose the ones with the smallest holes to allow for more surface area for the magnets to adhere to).

insert washer into fish

I tacked the washers in place by stitching a french knot on both sides of the fish, where the eyes would be. (Here’s a great tutorial; I wrapped my floss around the needle 3 times rather than 2 to create a bigger “eye.)

sew washer into place with french knot

I stuffed the fish and then stitched a decorative tail to close up the fish. You can be as plain or as fancy as you want, though I left them quite simple.

stuff and finish fish with stitching

I decided to make a “fish pond” by cutting out a large circle out of my trusty Marimekko fabric (it’s about 21″ in diameter) and zigzagging it onto some nice, thick canvas. And here it is, finished!

finished fishing game!

We’ve been testing it out, and even with the stuffing, the fish can be caught quite easily by the magnet “hook.” It’s a challenging game that’ll take him a while to get the hang of, and we hope we enjoys it. We’ll be giving this to him as a birthday present, and it may sound like we’re super organized since his birthday is not until late March, but that’s only because we couldn’t get it together to give to him as a present from Santa Claus.

Hey, it just occurred to me that we’re totally this generation’s version of the granola parent – you know the parent who makes their own granola and sprouts when all the kids really want to eat is Twinkies. We’re forcing Otis to play our handmade game when probably all he wants is a Tickle Me Elmo. And unfortunately for him, I make my own granola as well.

Here’s a video of F and me, playing the game. I’m not making excuses here, but let me just remind you that I was holding the camera here:

About these ads

25 Responses to “how to: fishing game”

  1. curlywurlygurly 01.29.08 at 12.19 am #

    That’s such a great idea–nice collaboration by you and the hubby. I think I could pass an afternoon playing that game!

  2. Di 01.29.08 at 1.15 am #

    I love it! All the better because it was made with love by his parents! I am sure he is going to have a ball with that!

  3. seemownay 01.29.08 at 2.01 am #

    This is great! It looks like you both had great fun working on it and therefore: Does it really matter if Otis likes it? Of which i am quite sure he will.

  4. wayfarer 01.29.08 at 4.58 am #

    what a great idea! i was thinking of a way to do it with water but didn’t want it to be limited to outside. I think my son would really like this too!

  5. Sam 01.29.08 at 8.41 am #

    Wow. Beautiful and creative as usual. And I had some of those granola/sprout loving-style parents. Eventually you do grow to appreciate them…even if it’s after the Twinkie/TV/Elmo fact.

  6. amy 01.29.08 at 9.52 am #

    Oh my this is just darling! I’d like to make a similar one for my little nephew… thanks for explaining the process!

  7. Rengirl 01.29.08 at 10.37 am #

    That’s fantastic! I can’t wait to give this a try.

  8. nyjlm 01.29.08 at 6.33 pm #

    that’s great! super fabrics.
    You guys are too cute.

  9. videoxy 01.30.08 at 6.23 am #

    This is so lovely and thoughtful! I feel inspired this morning, reading about your project and seeing the beautiful fish. Thank you for sharing with everyone.

  10. fiona 01.30.08 at 8.05 pm #

    thanks for sharing the beautiful fishes, thats a great project.

  11. jennifer 01.30.08 at 8.45 pm #

    love it – and that video is a stitch! what a great gift idea, too!

  12. Mefuza 01.31.08 at 8.40 am #

    a great idea. thanks for sharing.

  13. boobook 01.31.08 at 8.12 pm #

    such a great idea….I loved going fishing with my grandma when I was little.
    She would catch the little fish and let me play with them in my own little bucket.
    Then when it was time to go the fish would go back to grow and swim once again.

  14. Tiel 02.4.08 at 1.13 pm #

    so funny. Are you going to let your son play? :}

  15. Stacia 02.5.08 at 1.36 pm #

    Wonderful post, of course. Hippy projects are what childhood memories are made of!

    I nominated you for the ‘You Make My Day award’, which means you’re linked in my most recent post. Happy Tuesday!

  16. TAKAKO 02.5.08 at 9.48 pm #

    this is such a cute toy. the fish and pond with such a pretty fabric.
    marimekko pond! I and my husband has enjoyed the video. but what is most surprising is the machine to make holes. you can make everything!

  17. Syndi 02.8.08 at 10.01 pm #

    That is brilliant…and adorable!

  18. Dayna 02.25.08 at 9.26 am #

    Wow – this is so great. My daughter has shown an interest in fishing and was near to begging me to buy her a plastic version of this game….Why did I not think of making one? THANKS for the idea and photos. I am so excited!! I could maybe get this done for Easter.

    SUPER JOB _ THANKS

  19. Robyn 03.12.08 at 3.20 pm #

    That is SO cute, and how perfect- my last name is Fish! :D Thanks so much for the tutorial.

  20. Ana Paula 03.17.08 at 3.19 pm #

    fantastic!!!

  21. Alex Pollock 12.25.09 at 7.26 am #

    Decorative handles

    Complete range of ironmongery, brass steel handles, classic, modern and traditional kitchen and bathroom accessories at affordable cheap rates in United Kingdom UK, Australia Oz, United States of America USA

    Brass Handle, Ironmongery, Architectural ironmongery,Architectural hardware, Door handle, Door hardware, Door ironmongery, Hinges, Locks, Window hardware, Cabinet hardware, Window fitting, Window fasteners, Panic hardware, Door fitting, Carlisle brass, Engraving signs, Health and safety sign, Bathroom fittings, Door bolts, Black antique hardware, Screw & fixings, Door stop, Hooks & Handles, Door closer, Door accessories, Quality hardware, Modern door handles, Pull door handles, Ironmongery UK, Door hardware in London, Architectual Ironmongery UK,Signage,Antique Traditional Brass Hardware,Security Fittings,Aluminium Hardware,Designer Aluminium Lever Handle,SS Door Handles,Stainless Steel Hardware,Ice Crystal Collection,Mortise Knobs,Window Locks,Door Furniture Cabinets,Window Fastener,Brighton Fastener,Hats Coat Hooks,Hand Rail Bracket,Concealed Hinges,door closers,Handles direct,Black Antique Hardware,Dispensers Dryers,Tie racks,Diamond Cross shaped Rosette,Coral Robe Towel Hook,Corner plates,Toilet Soap Dish,Panic Latch,Euro Cylinder,Oval Cylinder,Vents Grills,Finger Plates,Special Hinges,Ball Bearing Hinges,Light Switches,Kick Plates

  22. Von Woodford 03.5.10 at 2.51 am #

    I like the layout of your blog and I’m going to do the same thing for mine. Do you have any tips? Please PM ME on yahoo @ AmandaLovesYou702

  23. Kara 11.9.10 at 8.46 pm #

    Thinking of what to make/buy for my sons birthday and remembered this. What I can’t remember is how old Otis would have been when you gave it to him. My son is turning 3.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. :: been surfin - week 7 :: February :: 2008 - 02.17.08

    [...] Wie wäre es zum Beispiel einmal mit einem selbstgebastelten Aquarium bzw. Angelspiel? [...]

  2. c h á d e ma ç ã » Há muitos anos - 02.24.08

    [...] Para as mamães de plantão, peixinhos de tecido para brincar com os [...]

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 34 other followers