Catch the Carrots, hook the worms! A magnetic catching game.

Getting your kids to design, and make, their own versions of a magnetic fishing game keeps them busy and promotes the development of fine motor, creative and language skills and scientific understanding.

What you need:

• Recycled cardboard or card-stock (for game pieces)
• Box lid or a box with the top cut out of it (for base of game)
• Wool or string (for fishing line)
• Wooden dowel/pencil/stick/lollipop stick (for the "fishing" rod handle)
• A magnet for each rod (e.g. fridge magnets or magnetic letters or numbers)
• Paper clips/paper fasteners/small bulldog clips (to fasten to the game pieces)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Materials for adding detail to game; e.g. colouring pens, pencils, paints, recycled wrapping paper, construction paper, bits of fabric
• Glue (Top tip: White craft glue dries clear)
• Tape

What to do:

Design your own version of the magnetic fishing game. It can be anything you want, e.g. a race track where you use the "fishing" rod to catch cars, a planet where you catch aliens, or a rabbit catching carrots.

Make the game base:

1. Get a box lid, or, a box with the top cut out of it. (This makes the base for your game and is where you put the game pieces to catch.)

2. Decorate the lid/box any way you like, e.g. draw and colour a race track on it, or, paint it green like grass and stick on paper/fabric flowers.

Make the game pieces:

(The game pieces are the things that you want to catch with the magnet, e.g. cars, carrots.)

1. Draw your game pieces onto cardboard and cut them out. (Top tip: simple shapes are easier to cut out)

2. Decorate your game pieces in any way you want.

3. Take a game piece and fasten a paper clip or bulldog clip onto it, or, push a paper fastener (butterfly clip) through it.

4. Repeat step 3 for each game piece.

Make the "fishing" rod:

1. Take a stick/pencil/dowel (whatever you are using to make the handle of the rod) and tie a piece of wool/string to one end of it.

2. Fasten a magnet to the other end of the piece of wool/string.

If you want to:

• Draw a character/object onto a piece of cardboard, e.g a rabbit, crane, spaceship.

• Carefully, make a hole through the middle of your card character/object.
  This can be tricky, be careful not to hurt yourself. You may need to ask an adult to help you with this.

• Decorate your character/object.

• Push the rod handle through the cardboard character/object.

• Position the character/object halfway along the handle, so that you can easily hold the rod. (see below)

Have fun playing your magnetic catching game.

Be a science detective

• Explain how the magnetic aspect of your game works to someone else.

• Play your game. How successful is it? Can you think of a way to improve it?

• What happens if you tie a longer or shorter piece of string/wool to the catching rods?

• What happens if you use a stronger magnet?

• What else could you attach to your game pieces instead of paper clips? Why?

• Investigate different ways of making magnetic games. Make predictions about what you think might happen and test them out.

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