Grassby's Greener on the Frugal Side: Fishes in the Water, Fishes in the Sea

I like to make something for little bear's Christmases and birthdays (all 2 of them so far!). Someone on a Facebook group I'm a member of made this for her little one, and I thought it would be great for bear. My guess was correct, he loves them :)

I got the fish pattern from here and based the pond/bag on this pattern. I crocheted a long chain and did a dc in each ch to make the drawstring. I used scraps of acrylic dk yarn I already had (the white one was a different brand of yarn so it ended up bigger -grrr) including black for the eyes and embroidering the numbers on. They are stuffed with ce tested toy stuffing, which I also already had so this technically cost me nothing to make (win!). I think I used a 4mm hook.

When he gets a bit older, the fish can help him learn numbers and colours. I also want to make it into a fishing game at a later date, using sticky velcro dots and a stick.

To extend little bear in his play, we have put the fish into the ball pool and got him to find them. Talking through how many fish he has found and how many he has left resulted in his 4th word being 'fish' (shish). He doesn't say mummy yet but can say fish!