Go Fish

Go Fish memory and matching fun. 

In the box: Fishing pole, 4 boats, 35 fish cards

Go Fish offers plenty of fishy memory and matching fun... without the smell. Use the suction cup fishing pole to fill your boat with colorful cardboard fish. Play several different games that can include matching, memory, and/or sequence. 

The fish all look the same on one side, as you see above. The fish are all different on the flip side. Here is what you get:

• 8 each of 4 different colors, numbered 1-8
• 1 tire fish
• 1 boot fish
• 1 anchor fish

Even though my box looks just like the one above, my fish look a little different and the colors are different. The four boat colors in my box are purple, orange, blue and green. The boats are hard plastic and have four slots so that you can stand the fish up (see image above).

The fishing pole is also a hard plastic, but you cannot "reel" anything in with it. The white rope (fishing line) will move forward and backward, but is also made of hard plastic. The worm is attached to the rope and has a little suction cup on the bottom. Hover the suction cup over the fish you want to pick up and push down on the pole to make the cup flatten and stick to the fish. My experience is that suction cups eventually give out... we'll see.

The instructions offer two different games and I will add some of my own with suggestions to TRY THIS.

Game 1

• Object: Be the first to fill your boat with fish that match your boat color.
• Set up: Give each player a boat. Spread all the fish, color side down, in the middle of the players. Give the fishing pole to the first player.
• Play: Players take turns "catching" one fish with the suction cup. If the fish color matches his boat, the player gets to put it in his boat. If it doesn't, the player makes sure everyone sees the color and then returns the fish, color side down, to the same place where he found it. If the player catches the boot, tire, or anchor, he loses his turn and returns the fish, picture side down, to the same place where he found it. Play until one person has filled his boat.
• Try this: For a little longer game, if a player catches a boot, anchor, or tire, he throws a fish back into the mix from his boat.  If you are working on colors and don't want the memory component right away, place the fish color side up and then let the player fill all the boats, sorting the fish by color. Skip using the fishing pole if it is awkward.

Game 2

• Object: To have the most sets of fish when the game is over.
• Set up: Take out the boot, anchor, and tire fish and set them to the side. Mix the remaining fish, color/number side down in the middle of the players. Each player chooses one boat and six cards and stands the cards up in his boat so that only he can see the numbers.   
• Play: From here on this plays like a game of Go Fish. Any players with matches (same number) in their boat sets the match(es), number side up, to the side. These sets are safely caught! The first player asks any other individual if he has a certain number that will match a number he already has in his boat. If the individual has that number, he gives it to the player who continues to ask for numbers until he gets a no answer. If the answer is no, the individual will tell him to GO FISH. The player then chooses one of the fish from the mix on the table, puts it in his boat, and his turn is over. Then play passes to the next person. If a player runs out of fish in his boat he picks one from the mix and his turn is over. Once all the fish on the table have been claimed as sets, the player who has caught the most sets is the winner.

Game 3

• Object: Be the person with the most sets after all the fish have been matched.
• Set up: Mix the fish and place them in a grid, number/color side down.
• Play: Play like a game of memory match. In turn, each player turns over two cards. You can play to either match color or number. If you turn over a match, go again until to don't get a match and you turn ends. 
• Try this: Cue the players to look at each card that is turned to remember the number/color and location. Leave the card turned over for a few seconds to record it in memory. Play a cooperative game and let two players turn over one card for each set, allowing discussion and assisting as they go.

Game 4

• Object: Sequence numbers
• Set up: Mix the fish and place them all number side up on the table.
• Play: Call out a number and ask the player to sequence a certain set of numbers around it. For instance, say 5 and ask the player to find the two numbers that come right before 5, or ask them to find all the numbers from 5 to 8 and line them up in order, etc. Add a second attribute by saying find the number before and the number after 5 and use three different colors.
• Try this: Play with only one color (one color goes from 1-8) if the player has difficulty with figure ground and all the fish.

Game 5

• Object: Work on visual closure, visual form constancy, and figure ground
• Set up: Mix the fish and lay them out, color/number side up. Be careful to overlap some, hiding parts of numbers and orienting so that they are facing in all different directions.
• Play: Ask the player to pick up a sequence of eight, or find all of one certain number. Limit the amount of adjusting the fish so that they can see the whole number.
• Try this: Show more or less of the number, depending on what the player needs.

Game 6

• Object: Sequence 8 with in-hand manipulation
• Set up: Sort the fish ahead of time so that they are in four piles by color. Mix the cards in each pile so that they are not in numerical order.
• Play: Give the player one pile, number side down. Ask him to hold the pile in his non-dominant hand and push the cards off the top, one at a time, with the thumb. Take each card with the dominant hand as it is pushed off and turn it in-hand so that it is number side up. Place on the table. Once all eight cards are on the table, ask the player to line them up in sequential order (1-8).

Practice using the pole before playing a game. If you have trouble with the cup slipping, hold the pole in one hand and, holding the rope or worm with the other, push firmly down so the cup will attach to the fish. If using the fishing pole becomes frustrating, just skip it.

To read more about why memory games are so popular, read my post Memory Games. Why are They so Popular? This post also has links to the other memory games I have blogged about.   

Try this:

• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, visual form constancy, spatial relations, figure ground, eye-hand coordination, in-hand manipulation, counting 1-8, coordinated use of both hands, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, social interaction skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: Fishing pole, 4 boats, 35 fish cards

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below.