After being inspired by one of my daughter’s magnetic puzzles, I put together this fishing game for her party. The concept is simple, and the kids caught on immediately. Catch the stars, put them in the basket.
I love this idea as a party activity because it’s so flexible; you can customize it to any theme with different shapes. So many possibilities!
I went with stars to tie back to the Magic Kingdom (not a literal interpretation, but good enough for me). I found these wood star shapes at Jo-Ann, and there were several other kinds of wood stars, foam stars, paper cutouts. There were a ton of options at just that one store. (I will note that the package states these are not toys. Use your own judgement whether they are safe enough for your kids to play with.)
First, I lightly sanded the stars to smooth out the edges. It only took about 15 minutes, and it’s worth for a better end product.
Then Elise and I attached some magnets to the shapes. These were the self-adhesive kind, but you could also use glue if needed. We put magnets on both sides so we wouldn’t have to flip them the “right” way while playing.
I sprayed both sides of the stars with primer, mainly because I knew the black magnets would be hard to cover up with paint alone.
Then I painted them with regular craft paints. Spray paint would have been quicker, but I didn’t want to buy multiple colors of spray paint for such a small project.
And because I can’t leave good enough alone, I gave all the stars a topcoat of Martha Stewart glitter paint. It’s less of a paint and more of a glaze, in my opinion. Transparent and light on the glitter. It’s hard to see in the photos. It’s subtle.
Stars are done! Onto the fishing poles!
I totally MacGyvered the two fishing poles. The actual pole part was made from leftover wood pieces from this chair. The long piece is a “stretcher” (the rod that holds two of the chair legs together, and yes, I had to look up that term). I capped the top of the pole with a mushroom-shaped hole plug from the same chair.
And now I’m sure you’re saying, “hey crazy lady, I’m not a hoarder. I don’t have random chair parts hanging around.” True, but use your imagination. Many household objects would be a decent substitute. A ruler, a wooden spoon, a drumstick, a length of a dowel or even a stick from the backyard.
I added a ribbon scrap and tied one of those metal buttons you can cover with fabric on the end. Then I glued a super strong “neo” magnet to the button. I got mine from Michael’s and they are so much stronger than regular ceramic magnets.
I put all the stars in a saucer sled to keep them from migrating while the kids were trying to catch them. I have to say, this worked pretty well, and we were able to get some use from the sled after a snow-less winter.
Like I mentioned in the party activities post, I designed this to be less of a “game” and more something just to keep the kids busy. However, it would be easy to take the concept and turn it into a true game with a timer or point values assigned to the shapes. 25 points for the gold star! Prizes for all!
