By The Green Parent
16th March 2021
We have a tank of frogspawn in the kitchen for (hourly!) observation. It’s quite meditative watching them. This level of visual learning feels really important and exciting. Look for ponds near you where you can sit for a while and watch the progress. If you have a pond in your garden with spawn, bring a little inside to watch (you can release the froglets back into the pond as they develop). For more resource ideas - here are some we’ve found fun.
RESOURCES
We love these story stones from Rainy Day Mum. We’ve made a life cycle out of felt but will add to this with story stones if it becomes a favourite topic!
Here’s a game based on the frog lifecycle from RSPCA.
The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust have some useful resources on their website, including this guide to making an origami frog.
ARC (above) also produce an amphibian identification guide, which we’ve found useful.
The Froglife Learning Zone is jam-packed with printables from making pebble frogs to factsheets on the amphibians commonly found in the UK.
We like the poetry ideas in this Toad Themed Poetry worksheet from Froglife.
Because colours and sorting are engaging right now, we made some cards depicting creatures you might find in a pond and some colour matching cards to accompany.
BOOKS
Fanatical About Frogs by Owen Davey Leap into this fascinating illustrated guide to the most diverse amphibians in the world, from the lumbering common toad to the beautiful but deadly poison dart frog.
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel We love the slow, simplicity of these stories and have a good collection - they have been loved by generations.
What to look for in Spring: A Ladybird book The natural world wakes from the long winter’s sleep. Buds, blossoms and butterflies appear, marking the arrival of the season of rebirth. This book takes a closer look at bleating lambs, boxing hares, meteor showers and May Day celebrations.
RHS: How Does a Frog Grow We found this really useful with close-up photos show the tadpoles hatching, growing legs, their tails shrivelling up, and a little froglet becoming a frog.
Frog is Frog by Max Velthuijs Frog is not content to be just a plain green frog, he wants to do the things his friends can do. He tries to fly like Duck, to bake cakes like Pig and to read like Hare. But all his attempts are doomed to failure, and Frog is disconsolate, until Hare points out that his friends love him just the way he is.
