You have come to the right place if you are looking for some engaging extension activities to the book Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. This book is perfect for younger learners as some of them are still having a little difficulty with sharing. The rainbow fish shows them that it is ok, but that sharing can make them have so much more fun!
Some Skills covered in these activities:
- Position in Space: This refers to the ability to perceive an object’s position in space relative to oneself. Examples include up, down, in front of, behind, above and under. Position in space activities help with developing a child’s visual discrimination i.e. their brain’s ability to make sense of what their eyes see.
- Story Setting, Characters, Problem & Solution: The characters are the people or animals in a story and the setting is the place where the story takes place.
Rainbow Fish Extension Activities
‘I Can Share’ Class Book Extension Activity
What You Need:
- Rainbow Fish Activity Sheets
- Coloring pencils/ markers/ crayons
How to use this resource:
After reading the story, discuss how the Rainbow Fish felt before and after sharing. Ask the children whether they like to share their toys. Why/ why not? When everyone had a turn, hand out the Rainbow Fish I Can Share activity sheet and ask the children to color the fish. As the children color, the teacher walks around and asks each child what they like to share and how it makes them feel. The teacher then writes the words and ask the children to trace it.
The Rainbow Fish Story Map Extension Activity
What You Need:
- Story Map Activity Sheets
- Coloring pencils/ markers/ crayons
How to use this resource:
To lighten things up a bit, we also watch the read-aloud of the story here. After watching it we talk about where this story took place and which sea animals spoke. I explain to the children that we call this the ‘setting’ and the ‘characters’ and I ask them to name all the characters. We then talk about the problem and how the Rainbow Fish found a solution.
The children then draw pictures of the characters and the setting (the ocean). When they are done, the teacher writes the problem on the board (no friends) as well as the solution (sharing) and the kids copy these words onto their activity sheets.
The Rainbow Fish Positions In Space
What you need:
- Rainbow Fish Positions Activity Sheets
- Coloring Pencils/ Markers/ Crayons
How to use this resource:
Ask volunteers to demonstrate sitting on top of, under, behind, in front of and next to a chair. When it seems like most children got the concept, hand out the activity sheets and ask them to draw the Rainbow Fish above, on top of, next to, behind and under the starfish.
The Rainbow Fish Coloring Activity
What you need:
- Rainbow Fish Coloring Activity Sheets
- Coloring pencils/ markers/ crayons
How to use this resource:
Review color words and the sounds they begin with. For example ‘R, r, red, G, g, green’. Hand out the activity sheets and ask the children to find all the words that begin with /g/. remind them that green begins with /g/. Then ask them to color all the scales with the word green in it green.
