Magic Scales Printable Fish Painting Activity

Last summer I created these printable fish painting activity sheets for The Pinning Mama’s Summer Fun series and I’m pretty sure I’m overdue to share them here! But these aren’t just colouring sheets that you paint, I love giving them ‘magic’ scales that appear when you get to painting.

Before I get to sharing the ‘magic’, can we oggle at how cute and TINY the twins were a year ago. Cue the tears for this mama. *sigh* But they’re still darn cute, if I do say so myself (just see below!).

These fish were drawn by myself, then digitized for you. You can grab them RIGHT HERE and print them off. I’d recommend having them printed on cardstock and with a laser printer (most copy shops use laser, it’s what we have at home as well). Inkjet printer ink will run with the watercolours.

When your sheet’s all printed off, time to add the magic scales! Last year I used a glue pen (shown) and this year, I used regular old school glue. Both work, as long as they dry clear and you have a fine tip for application. Draw on your scales and let them dry completely. You could add a secret message or hidden fish in the ocean if you like as well.

Psst… see their outfits? They thing it’s SO funny that we let them wear garbage bags for painting. It’s the highlight for them.

One of the things that I’ve learned over the past year is that toddlers don’t totally ‘get’ the solid watercolours yet, they will just keep adding water. I’ve started giving my twins a palette of premixed watercolours instead (you can grab a kit of tubes at Michaels for under $10). The colours are so much more vibrant this way!

That’s really all there is to it! When the kiddos apply the watercolour, the glue will act as a resist and your magic scales will appear! We love to paint around here, so this extra touch is a bit of a special event for them. If you print these fish painting activities off and use them- I’d love to see it! Tag me on social media @colleenpastoor and make my day ;)