Dr. Seuss books are a part of nearly every child’s memories! To celebrate that and Dr. Seus’s birthday, we created this Dr Seuss paper plate fish craft!
We’re pretty sure you recognize this iconic fish, but if not, he’s from The Cat in the Hat. I don’t think he has a name, other than fish, but you know the one we’re talking about.
He’s the fish that is the only sensible one and tries to get the kids to clean up and kick the Cat in the Hat out of the house!
This paper plate craft is so cute and it’s fun to make too. All you’ll need are some basic art and craft supplies and about 15 minutes.
This fish craft would be perfect to make in the classroom to celebrate Read Across America Day.
Or, make it at home with kids after you read The Cat in the Hat. And, if you need more ideas, check out all of our Dr. Suess crafts for kids.
Read on below or watch our quick video tutorial to see how simple this Dr. Seuss craft is!
Cat In The Hat Fish Craft

Below we’ve listed the supplies that we used to create the craft you see in the pictures. We wanted to mention that there are a few different options you can do in place of the watercolors.
We used pan watercolors, but you can also try out liquid watercolors, thinned out acrylic paint or even just use a light blue marker to color in the water.
Whatever you have on hand that will work, just use that!
Supplies
- Paper plate
- Black marker
- Orange card stock
- White card stock
- Watercolors
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Dr. Seuss fish template (download form located at the end of the page)
Directions
Download the Dr. Seuss fish template, print and cut out the pieces.
Use the black marker to draw on the fishbowl accent markings. Wait until the black marker is dry, then move on to the next step.
Use liquid watercolors or pan watercolors to paint on the blue water inside the fishbowl. Let dry completely.
Assemble the fish by gluing on the white eye on top of the body.
Place the fish’s fin just in front of the left most marking and glue in place.
Take the completed fish and glue him into the fishbowl.
Cat in the Hat Fish Craft Notes
We wanted to mention that it’s important to draw the black accent lines on first before you use the watercolor.
We weren’t thinking things through the first time we made the fishbowl and painted the paper plate. After the watercolor dried we tried to use the black sharpie to draw over the paint, but it did not work!
We ended up ruining our brand new marker, so don’t make the same mistake we did! 🙂

Dr. Seuss In The Classroom
Doesn’t this fish look too cute?!
We love when crafts have a bit of art involved, so we used watercolors for the water in the fishbowl.
If you’re making this craft in the classroom and you don’t want to deal with a paint mess, you can use crayons, markers or even colored pencils instead.

What’s great about this craft is it’s simple, but it still allows for some variety. Let the kids make their fishbowl half full, 3/4 full or 100% full. And don’t feel constrained to keep your fish submerged in the water.
We all know the original Dr. Seuss fish frequently popped out of his water to talk to the kids.
We can already envision how cool these guys would look on a bulletin board outside the classroom!
Don’t forget to enter your email in the form at the end of this page to have the template link sent directly to you.

More Dr. Seuss Resources
We can’t talk about Dr. Seuss without mentioning the best Dr. Seuss books! These are some of the top-rated ones. Grab them from your local library or add them to your home collection.
Are You My Mother? is a cute book about a little bird who’s trying to find his mom in a big world!
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! – This book is a classic Dr. Seuss book about the ups and downs of life. It’s such a great read!
Dr. Seuss Second Book Collection– This boxed set of five Beginner Books by Dr. Seuss—The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Dr. Seuss’s ABC, Oh Say Can You Say?, Oh the Thinks You Can Think!, and I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! is a great addition to your home library.
Kids will actually want to take a bath when they use these Lorax bath bombs. Get ready for Dr. Seuss dress-up day with this Dr. Seuss dress or these Thing 1 & Thing 2 shirts.
Share With Us
Did you make this craft with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!
For a chance to have your child’s craft featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

Dr. Seuss Fish Paper Plate Craft
Materials
- Paper plate
- Black marker
- Orange card stock
- White card stock
- Watercolors
- Glue stick
- Dr. Seuss fish template (download form located at the end of the page)
Tools
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
Instructions
- Download the Dr. Seuss fish template, print and cut out the pieces.
- Use the black marker to draw on the fishbowl accent markings. Wait until the black marker is dry, then move on to the next step.
- Use liquid watercolors or pan watercolors to paint on the blue water inside the fishbowl. Let dry completely.
- Assemble the fish by gluing on the white eye on top of the body.
- Place the fish's fin just in front of the left most marking and glue in place.
- Take the completed fish and glue him into the fishbowl.
Jennifer Perkins
Monday 16th of January 2023
For my kindergarten class, after reading the Dr. Seuss fish book, I used this template to place a different number of colored dots on the body of the fish. These were laminated. Then, using a permanent marker, I placed different numbers on wooden closepins. This became a great math center for students to match the numbered closepins with the fish that had the correct number of dots.
Sam
Monday 16th of January 2023
Oh, that's a great idea! So glad you could adapt it to your needs!
Brenda Sanford
Saturday 15th of May 2021
Cute craft idea!
Sam
Monday 17th of May 2021
Thanks, Brenda!
Greg Porath
Friday 28th of February 2020
These are so terrific I love your crafts.
Sam T
Friday 28th of February 2020
Thank you!
linda Duenas
Tuesday 25th of February 2020
Great ideas.
Sam T
Tuesday 25th of February 2020
Thank you!