Catching crabs is a good introduction to fishing for small children, even the most fretful ankle-biter seems to quieten down when crabbing. You will need, crab line, a bucket that will contain your crabs ( in seawater) for boasting purposes, a long handled net, some bait.... bits of fish, squid pieces, bacon fat and rind all work well, crabs are not fussy eaters. You can buy crab lines from tackle shops and gift shops in any seaside town, these have a line on a winder, a weight, one or two wire booms each with a short length of nylon line and a small hook. A safer and altogether more successful outfit is this; a small drawstring bag of the type used for some washing machine tablets, string and a pebble from the beach to weight the bag. Place some fishy gunge in the bag with the pebble, tighten the drawstring, attach a length of string and there you have a perfectly safe and effective bit of kit for the ankle-biter. The crabs will get tangled in the mesh of the bag and will be most reluctant to let go.