Activity for ages 3 to 5.
These adorable fingerprint fish are a must-try number and craft activity for preschool or early kindergarten. The hands-on math project is a playful way to practice reading and counting from 1 to 10 – a skill they’ll use for a lifetime.
To prep, I simply printed a copy of the fingerprint sheet and grabbed a sharpie.
We had orange paint on hand so I squeezed some into the bottom of a small bowl but and orange stamp pad would work just as well.
Although this activity was really designed for Little Sister (age 3), the boys (ages 5 and 7) were excited to give it a go too. (Who can resist an excuse to finger paint?!)
To give Little Sister (age 3) practice reading the numbers, I pointed to each one as we read them out loud together.
Then I showed the kids how to dip their fingers in the paint and carefully stamp a matching number of fish in the tank.
We counted, “1 fish”. Then, “1, 2 fish”. And “1, 2, 3 fish…”
Once the tanks were full, we set the papers aside to let the paint dry.
Later that day, we pulled the sheets out again and I showed the kids how to add a fish eye, mouth, fin and tail to their orange dots.
The boys quickly caught on and started working their way through the page.
Little Sister needed some help but she was thrilled with the final result too.
Grab Your Set