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How to Make Your Own Aquarium Games

For many children in the United States, owning an aquarium is a part of childhood. Many people carry their love for these self-contained, mini, aquatic ecosystems on into adulthood. If you are one of these people, you should know that there is much more that you can do with aquariums. You can express your interest and pass it on to your children by creating your own fish and aquarium-themed games. These games can be used at birthday parties, family gatherings or regular playtime.

Things You'll Need

3 plastic aquariums, 1-gallon capacity
30 small, plush sea animals and fish
1 large aquarium, 10-gallon capacity
2 large trash bags of Styrofoam peanuts
30 small plastic fish
30 plastic rings or hoops, 3-inch diam.
Roll of strong tape
6 wooden dowels, 3 feet long, 1/2-inch diam.
3 pairs of shoestrings
6 large plastic hooks
20 plastic duck toys

Instructions

Aquarium Fish Toss
- 1
  Place the three plastic aquariums in a straight, vertical line with each aquarium spaced three feet apart from any other aquarium. This game can be set up in a large room, but preferably outdoors.
- 2
  Have the person that will be tossing the items stand ten feet in front of the line of aquariums. This game is designed to be played by one person at a time. Pile the plush sea animals in front of the player.
- 3
  Toss the plush animals, one at a time, into the aquariums. Each aquarium should be assigned a point value with the closest aquarium assigned the lowest point value and the farthest aquarium assigned the highest point value. For instance, the closest aquarium can be assigned one, 10 or 100, the middle aquarium can be assigned two, 20 or 200 and the farthest aquarium can be assigned three, 30 or 300.
- 4
  Calculate the points based on the plush animals that landed completely inside of the aquarium. Allow the next contestants to toss. The person who gets the highest number of points should win a prize.
Aquarium Search Game
- 5
  Place the same plush animals from the previous game into the large aquarium. Cover the animals with the bags of Styrofoam peanuts filling the aquarium to the brim.
- 6
  Mix together the Styrofoam peanuts and the plush animals in the aquarium to evenly distribute the animals throughout the peanuts.
- 7
  Have two players search through the Styrofoam peanuts and find as many plush animals as they can find within 30 seconds. The player who finds the most animals win the game.
Aquarium Fishing Game
- 8
  Tape one plastic ring to each of the plastic fish. Fill the large aquarium three-fourths full with water and drop all of the fish inside. Place the three small aquariums in front of the large aquarium.
- 9
  Tie one shoestring to one end of each wooden dowel and tie the other end of the shoestring to the end of one hook.
- 10
  Have six contestants use the dowels and hooks to grab the loops and remove the fish from the large aquarium into the small aquariums. The six contestants should work in pairs, making three teams of two each with their own small aquarium. The team that hooks and removes the most fish wins.
Floating Ducks Game
- 11
  Fill the large aquarium with water three-fourths full with water. Place the plastic duck toys into the aquarium and spread them out on the water.
- 12
  Have one contestant stand over the aquarium. Instruct the contestant to attempt to capture and hold down as many of the ducks as you can.
- 13
  Instruct the contestant to hold the ducks down for at least three seconds. In order to win, all of the ducks must be held down for the required time.

Kids Games