We absolutely adore the book the Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and we have the best Rainbow Fish Craft to go with the book! If your child hasn’t read the rainbow fish before, I recommend you watch this live reading of it which includes animation.
RELATED: Fish Crafts for Kids
There are so many Rainbow fish crafts but we haven’t seen one done with black glue yet. So this Rainbow fish craft is made with black glue! What is black glue? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like, glue that is tinted black. You can skip down below for more details on how to make black glue or you can buy it.
Rainbow Fish Craft
This rainbow fish craft is the perfect companion craft for a study or lesson plan on the Rainbow Fish book by Marcus Pfister. Older kids will love making this craft by experimenting with the black glue, watercolors and glitter.
Each rainbow fish will be unique and would make a brilliant board of fish to put on display. The book is well known for its morals about the value of being an individual so this craft is perfect since each rainbow fish will be unique.
Supplies Needed to Make this Rainbow Fish Craft
–Â White cardstock and colored cardstock
– FREE Rainbow Fish Template (you can get the template by subscribing to our newsletter on the form with the preview of the template)
*If you’d rather not make your own black glue, you can buy black glitter glue.
Watch the full tutorial video here before you get started!
How to make a Black Glue Rainbow Fish Craft
1. First, make your black glue:Â
In order to make black glue, it’s pretty simple. You just mix acrylic black paint with regular white glue. But the key is that you need to really mix it.
What we did is added black glue a little at a time until you get the color you’re looking for. It will probably end up being close to 1/4 black paint and 3/4 white glue.  You can use a paintbrush to stir in the bottle to make sure to mix it up properly. You can also shake the bottle to spread the paint around.
Note: You’ll want a small glue bottle with a small nozzle. If you use a bigger nozzle or size glue the glue may pool too much when drying.
Rainbow Fish Template
2. Print the free template.Â
Print off the free Rainbow Fish Template. You can get the template as a freebie for subscribing to our newsletter on the form at the bottom of this post with the preview of the template.
3. Apply your black glue.Â
Use your black glue to outline your rainbow fish. Try to move quickly but smoothly to avoid pooling the black glue. If you go in a straight line from line to line you won’t get pooling in between the lines. It’s okay if you do though! It’s part of the effect and it will still look great!
TIP: Do not squeeze out too much paint during this step. You want just a light amount or too much of the glue will pool and spread when drying.Â
4. Let your black glue dry overnight.Â
Once your black glue is dry, it’s time to paint! Using watercolors, paint the rainbow fish using a mix of different purple, pink, red, greens and blues!
5. Once your watercolor painting is dry, apply your glitter.Â
Apply glitter to different scales on the fish. Fill the scale with glue and then shake your glitter on top. Shake off any excess glitter and you can put it back in your glitter bottle. Pick and choose different scales to decorate.
6. Glue your fish to a colored background and cut out.Â
To make your fish “pop” more, we glued it to different colored backgrounds.
To get the template, subscribe below and it will be delivered to your inbox. Please make sure to check ALL folders for the confirmation email. If you have any issues, send us a message on our contact page.
More Summer Crafts for Kids
Cereal Box Aquarium – this is such a fun way to upcycle a cereal box!
Thank you for the free template for RAINBOW FISH.
Rainbow fish template so cute
Thank you very much for your beautiful lessons. My daughter loves them so much. They are helpful.
Thanks so much Binh!