Cute Rainbow Fish Craft is perfect for preschool age kids! Take a paper plate, paint it and decorate it to look like a rainbow fish. It’s a fun and easy kids activity they will have so much fun making.

Two Completed Fish Laying on a Table to make it like they're swimming

If your kiddos love underwater animals, then they’re going to have a blast making this rainbow fish craft! I love paper plate crafts like this (or a paper plate jelly fish!) because they’re so simple and I can easily put together a fun craft time for a large group. Plus, it’s easy for kids of all ages to make!

This craft is perfect for classroom use, homeschool use, or simply just a craft time at home. It’s also the absolute perfect craft to make after reading The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister too!

Or maybe you can make this cutie fish buddy as you learn about the ocean. Add on this fun alphabet fishing activity and you’ve got a full day of educational content with a fun theme. So grab your supplies and start making this easy rainbow fish craft!

Why You’ll Love this Rainbow Fish Craft

You can make a cute rainbow fish craft in just 25 minutes! Perfect for a short craft time.
This craft is affordable since many of the supplies can be used to make multiple paper plate rainbow fish, or used in other crafts.
Painting, cutting, and pasting are all great activities to work on refining fine motor skills.

Overhead Image of the Rainbow Fish Supplies

Supplies need to make a Paper Plate Rainbow Fish

Cardstock – You’ll need multiple different colors of cardstock to make the rainbow scales on your fish. I like orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. You can also use construction paper if your prefer!
Paper plate – You can use a cheap paper plate, you don’t need anything fancy!
Googly eyes – I like using giant googly eyes for this cute rainbow fish craft!
Paint – Use any shade of blue to paint the paper plate! Navy blue and sky blue look the best.
Circle paper punch – If you don’t have a circle paper punch, you can freehand cutting circles out to use on your fishy friend.
Glue – You can use a glue stick or liquid craft glue. Either will work!
Scissors – If you are making this preschool rainbow fish craft with young children, consider using safety scissors.
Template – Print out this template, cut it out, and trace it onto card stock to make a tail for your fish. If you don’t have a printer, you can freehand the tail!

How to Make this Rainbow Fish Craft

Paint the paper plate with the acrylic paint color that you’ve chosen and let it completely dry.

While it is drying, print out the fish tail template and cut it out. Trace the tail onto card stock that matches the color you painted your plate. Cut it out and glue it to the back of paper plate.

Glue a large googly eye on the front, left side of the paper plate. Use a 1″ circle punch to punch out a ton of circles in various colors.

Fold each circle in half and glue them to the back ⅔ of the fish in a pattern that looks like scales. Then, make a small white circle and glue it under the eye as a mouth.

Allow all the glue to dry, then you’re done!

Make a bunch of Circles with the Hole Punch out of the Colored Cardstock

Fold the circles in half and glue onto the Fish Plate in Rows to make Fins

Can I use colored plates to make a rainbow fish?

Absolutely! Grab blue plates from the party section of your local Walmart and use them in this craft. It will speed up the process a bit and cut out the messiest section of the craft. You can also purchase plates in a different color if you want the base of your fish to be something other than blue.

Pro Tips!

Cover your workspace with craft paper or a disposable plastic tablecloth in order to protect from paint splatters and glue spills.
If you are in a time crunch, paint each plate ahead of time and pre-punch every circle. That way, you are set and ready to go to make a cutie rainbow fish!
Can’t find large googly eyes? Paint an eye onto your fish or cut one out of card stock or construction paper and glue it on!

Have fun going under the sea during craft time!

More Paper Plate Crafts You’ll Love

Make this Paper Plate Chick Craft during Spring or around Easter!
This Paper Plate Penguin is by far one of the cutest paper plate crafts I have!
You can bring fireworks to craft time with this fun Paper Plate Fork Fireworks Craft.
Have a ROARing great time with this Paper Plate Dinosaur Craft.

Yield: 1 Rainbow Fish Craft

Rainbow Fish Craft

Fun and easy Rainbow Fish craft is an easy activity for preschoolers.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Materials

Instructions

Begin by painting a paper plate in your choice of fish colors. Let dry completely.
While the paper plate dries, print out the tail template and cut out. Trace the tail on a corresponding color of cardstock. Cut out.
Glue a large googly eye to the front of the fish.
Then glue the tail to the back of the fish.
Now, use the 1” circle punch to make a bunch of circles out of various colors of cardstock.
Fold the circles in half. Then glue the folded circles to the back ⅔ of the fish in a scale-like pattern.
Finally, use the smaller circle punch to make a small white circle out of cardstock or paper.
Glue the small white circle in place for the mouth.

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