"What Kind of Animals Swim?"
This activity uses real fish from the meat market! Amy purchased two tilapia from our local carnirceria at $4 for each fish. Tilapia is great for this project because of the pronounced scales. You could use any whole fish for this project. Surprisingly, not one of the dozen or so children who participated shied away from this activity.
This type of printing is called "gyotaku". It is a form of art created over 100 years ago by Japanese fisherman. They would apply ink on one side of their catch and press onto rice paper. This served as a way to keep track of which fish they caught as well as how big they were. Then they would rinse and clean the fish and eat. You can use this art activity as an opportunity to talk about the anatomy of a fish.
You will need:
a whole, fresh fish- patted dry with towels
washable paint
paint brushes- wide foam preferable
a plate, tray or pan to place the fish on
finger painting paper
A tilapia is naturally a silver color. As you can see in the photo below, the children have already painted these fish. The children took turns painting the fish and making a print. They did not wipe the paint off of the fish between turns and each print was markedly different.
Once the child is happy with their paint layout, gently and slowly have them press the paper over the fish and slowly peel back.
Since you are using non-toxic paints, you can rinse off the paint, clean the fish and fry or grill for a seafood supper.
Waste not, want not!
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