Materials
Lightweight paper plates, 2 per porthole scissors construction paper glue jumbo paper clips pictures of tropical fish 4" squares of white construction paper markers blue plastic wrap or cellophane stapler
Instructions
1. Ahead of time, cut out a 5 1/2 " circle from one of each pair of paper plates (you need two paper plates to make one porthole), leaving the outer rim intact. Cut construction paper into 1" x 4" strips, roll the strips into circles, and glue them to make an "O" shape, securing with jumbo clips until dry. Make three or four of these circles for each porthole scene (to attach the fishto the background).
2. Show the children the tropical fish pictures, calling attention to the distinguishing features of the colorful fish: stripes, shapes, dots, colors, and fins.
3. Give the children 4" squares of white construction paper and encourage them to create their own colorful fish, drawing one fish per square. Ask them to cut out the fish and glue the flat side of a loop to the back of each fish. Secure with paper clips until dry.
4. Distribute the whole uncut paper plates to the children, face up. When the fish and connecting loops are dry, ask them to glue the underside of each loop to the paper plate, placing the fish inside the 5 1/2 " circle indented in the plate. This gives the fish a 3-dimensional look.
5. Cut blue cellophane into 6 1/2 " squares. Give each child a cellophane square and a plate with the center circle cut out. Demonstrate how to glue the cellophane on the plate to cover the hole and make a window.
6. Teacher step: Invert the window plate over the whole plate and staple together so that the blue window reveals the underwater scene.
