🐙 Go Fish for Kids

Go Fish with sea animals

Go Fish for Kids is a free card game for young children that you play in your browser. Instead of numbers and suits, the cards show ten cheerful sea animals: a clownfish, a pufferfish, an octopus, a crab, a turtle, a seahorse, a jellyfish, a shark, a whale and a squid. Instead of books of four, you collect pairs. And a friendly voice reads every card and every question aloud, so children who cannot read yet can play all by themselves.

It is a perfect first card game. The rules are simple, every turn is short, and there is a lovely moment of suspense each time you ask: "Do you have a turtle?"

How to play

Everyone gets seven picture cards, or five each if four people are playing. The rest of the cards go in the pond in the middle. On your turn, tap one of your cards to choose that animal, then tap the friend you want to ask. If they have that animal, they give it to you, and you get to go again. If they don't, they say "Go Fish!", and you tap the pond to take a card. If you fish up the animal you asked for, you go again; if not, it is the next player's turn. Whenever you have two of the same animal, the pair is put down straight away. When every pair has been found, the player with the most pairs wins.

Friendly computer players

You can play against one, two or three computer friends. They take their turns at a gentle pace, say out loud what they are asking for, and are happy to give you their cards when you ask for the right animal. Playing against the computer means children can enjoy a real card game any time, without waiting for a grown-up to have a free moment, and without anyone getting upset about losing.

What children learn

Go Fish for Kids practises matching pictures, recognising and naming sea animals, taking turns and following simple rules. Asking the right friend for the right card is a first taste of memory and strategy: if a friend asked for a crab a moment ago, they probably have one! The read-aloud voice supports listening and vocabulary, and pairs are small enough that even the youngest players see them come together quickly.

Tips for grown-ups

Turn the sound on and play the first game together, naming the animals as they appear. Encourage your child to remember what the computer friends ask for, then ask them for it back. Start with one computer friend for a quick game, and add more friends as your child gets used to the rules.

The ten sea animals

Each animal has its own bright colour and its own card background, so they are easy to tell apart at a glance. The clownfish is orange with dark stripes, the pufferfish is yellow and spotty, the octopus is purple, the crab is red, the turtle is green, the seahorse is golden yellow, the jellyfish is pink, the shark is grey, the whale is blue and the squid is bright pink. Naming the animals and their colours out loud as you play is a fun way to learn about sea life.

A gentle way to start

Pairs make the game much quicker than the classic version, and a whole game takes only a few minutes, which suits young children well. There is no clock and no rush: the game waits patiently for your child to choose a card and a friend. If a child taps the wrong thing, nothing bad happens; they simply choose again. Winning feels great, but even when a computer friend wins, every pair your child found is celebrated along the way.

Play anywhere

Go Fish for Kids runs in any modern browser on tablets, phones, Chromebooks and computers, with no download and no account. Just tap the cards. Wins and games played are saved only in your own browser. There are no ads in the game and no chat. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

More games like this

Ready for the grown-up version? Play classic Go Fish with a standard deck. For more early learning fun, catch fish on a spinning toy pond in Magnetic Fishing Game or count fish for hungry friends in Panda Fishing Pond. More games for little ones are on our Kindergarten Games page.

Frequently asked questions