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Under the Sea Painting with Pout Pout Fish

Our second post for the Under Sea Week on Storybook Summer is from Laura of Sunny Day Family and she’s sharing a wonderful painting activity for the book Pout Pout Fish. Yesterday we shared a canvas painting that was ideal for mixed age groups and today it’s involving the youngest members of the family and using some of our favourite toys to paint and print with so I hand over to Laura.

Printing and painting with toys to create under the sea pictures bringing alive the storybook Pout Pout Fish

I’m so happy to be part of the Storybook Summer this year! I’m Laura, a mom to twin toddler boys. We love to read together and to make our books come alive with fun activities and crafts. We’re really glad to be a part of Under the Sea week because one of our favorite book series is set in the ocean.

We love the Pout Pout Fish books by Deborah Diesen. If you haven’t read them yet, they are wonderful not only for their fun underwater adventures but also for helping children identify and deal with big emotions.

Printing and painting with toys to create under the sea pictures bringing alive the storybook Pout Pout Fish

We’ve been reading The Pout Pout Fish in the Big, Big Dark lately as my boys are starting to show a little apprehension about the dark. In the book, the Pout Pout Fish has to go deep under the water to help find a missing pearl. As he swims deeper into the dark, his fear starts to show. But with the help of a shiny friend, he realizes that together, they are bigger than the dark. This is a fantastic book to share with children who are worried about the dark.

We based our activity on the Pout Pout Fish’s swim into the deep dark sea. We decided to do a fun painting craft to illustrate how we can brighten the dark with a little help from our friends!

Read Next: More Fish Themed Books for Kids

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Under the Sea Painting, you will need:

Printing and painting with toys to create under the sea pictures bringing alive the storybook Pout Pout Fish

The set up for this activity is very simple. After reading The Pout Pout Fish in the Big, Big Dark together, set out your black construction paper, sea animals, and brushes. Pour some neon paint onto a paper plate. Then invite your children to come and paint with their sea animal friends!

Printing and painting with toys to create under the sea pictures bringing alive the storybook Pout Pout Fish

My boys loved dipping their sea animals into the paint and then using them as stamps. We talked about how the black construction paper was like the deep dark sea, but our friends the sea animals were helping us make it bright.

Printing and painting with toys to create under the sea pictures bringing alive the storybook Pout Pout Fish

The neon paint looked amazing against the black construction paper. It really seemed to glow right off the paper! After stamping with our crab and our turtle, the boys decided to get out their paintbrushes and draw some waves.

Printing and painting with toys to create under the sea pictures bringing alive the storybook Pout Pout Fish

I love painting with my boys. When we do paint activities, we focus not on the finished product, but on the process. Painting is such a wonderful activity for toddlers to not only be creative, but also to work on their fine motor skills and beginning pencil grasp. And when we can pair a painting activity with one of our favorite books, then it helps foster their love of reading too!

We really enjoyed this activity. Our bright, colorful paintings are a wonderful reminder of the lesson in The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark – that there is nothing to be afraid of because together, we are bigger than the dark!

More Ocean Themed Arts and Crafts for Kids

DIY Mermaid Tiara

Torn Paper Sea Horse

Crazy Sea Monsters

Coral Reef Salt Painting

DIY Sea Turtle Stamps

Ocean Animal Canvas

Under Sea Clay Animals

If you liked this, check out some of our other book themed activities:


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Laura is a mom to twin boys and the author of Sunny Day Family, where she shares fun activities and easy organizing tips. She has a passion for early literacy and all things kids’ books!

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