MATERIALS

~ construction paper 

~ safety scissors 

~ marker 

~ plastic container or bowl 

~ small chip clip or clothespin

One afternoon, our daughter sat contentedly as she watched “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2″ (again). She was joyfully calling out the names of the various foodimals…TACODILE SUPREME (a little eruption of laughter)…SHRIMPANZEES (followed by a tiny giggle). I smiled to myself as I straightened up a few things and gathered dirty dishes. At the end of the movie, there is a scene where the main character, Flint Lockwood, is learning to fish with his dad. It is the first time he has ever fished and his initial effort results in him casting the whole rod into the water. I listened as Sofia said, “oh man, that’s something he is working on.”

A few minutes later, she came up to me and declared, ‘I’ve never been fishing. Do you think we could do that someday?’ I told her it sounded like a terrific adventure. And I saw an opportunity. I asked her if she would like to practice fishing so she would know a little about what to expect. She clapped and we were on our way.

I gathered a couple sheets of colored construction paper and drew some sea creatures. A plastic storage bowl served as our ‘fishing hole’ and a small food clip was our ‘rod’. We set out the supplies and I asked her to get her safety scissors. She focused on cutting out the various pictures and dropped them one by one into the bowl. It was a great opportunity for her to work on fine motor skills and created a space for us to talk about the wonder of the sea. She was thrilled to share facts she knew about life under the water. “Did you know seahorses use camouflage to protect themselves?” “Clams and mussels can both produce pearls, but usually oysters do.” As she worked through four or five pictures, her little hands worked more smoothly to turn the page and cut. We talked about the kinds of jobs that would involve working with sea creatures and what kind of fun that might be. After more discussion, she looked at me and said, “Mom, I just don’t know what I’m going to be when I get older. Maybe a marine biologist, maybe a chef, or maybe a Food Truck Girl. We’ll just have to see.”

Oh, I’m excited to see what you bring to this great, big world, Sofia. You’ve already brought so much to mine.