Now that the drought has passed, Melbourne is once again enjoying a more typical Autumn season full of rain, rain and more rain. Our garden is in heaven, and I for one truly don’t mind the endless days of wet: the air is just nicer to breathe, and it also reminds me of home. But Master C gets rather restless after a few days in a row without access to the trampoline and sandpit, and it is days like these where a pre-planned activity saves our sanity. When the sun is shining, we usually undertake our activities or crafts on the deck in the back garden, but when it’s blowing a gale outside or too chilly to be comfortable, indoors it is. Today is such a day.

The theme for this week is Camping. Yesterday (another rainy one) we put up the tent in the playroom. Marshmallows were “roasted” over the tissue paper fire, stories told, songs sung to the strum of Daddy’s ukelele. But what is camping without a bit of fishing?

Looks like fun right? Wanna give it a go?

Here’s what you need:

• a pack of strong magnets
• a stick, piece of bamboo, or length of dowelling about half a metre long
• 1 baby sock
• string or fishing line
• dollar store alphabet or number magnet
• a few drops of blue food colouring

Here’s what we did:

I purchased a pack of strong magnets about the size of a five cent piece from our local $2 store. We brought home a medium sized stick from a local park to form the fishing rod, and used invisible jewellers thread for fishing wire (use whatever is on hand, I had some of this lying about). I placed one magnet inside an outgrown sock of Baby J’s and tied it off with the fishing line, then left an appropriate length before tying it off on the end of the stick. After considerable (too much) thought on the topic, I decided not to worry too much about the “fish” bearing any sort of resemblance to actual creatures of the sea, we simply used magnetic letters found at the local dollar shop as our fish. Next time we do this activity (as I’m sure we will, this one was a winner), I’ll bring my A game and make something that more closely resembles an actual fish, like this. But, in a pinch, the alphabet magnets worked a treat, and occupied Master C for a good half hour at least. Winning.

Why not give this a try at your place some time? Though I am sure it goes without saying, I will say it anyhow: please be sure to always supervise your children AT ALL TIMES when undertaking this activity or any involving water.

Happy fishing, and watch out for sharks! 😉