Tots and Me... Growing Up Together: Littles Learning Link Up: March 26, 2019: Craft Highlight- Recycled Frog Life Cycle in a Pond Habitat

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Littles Learning Link Up: March 26, 2019: Craft Highlight- Recycled Frog Life Cycle in a Pond Habitat

Each month you will find:

A seasonal round-up (usually toward the beginning of the month)
Posts where I share what I have been up to with my early elementary children and the preschoolers I work with at our homeschool co-op (including occasional highlight posts where I share how we used ideas that have been linked up here on Littles Learning Link Up).

Each week, I will host a link up, where you can share either what you have been up to recently, or old posts that may go with the theme. Feel free to link up more than one post.

Each week I will continue to feature a couple of posts from those that have been linked up.

I hope you will continue to share your wonderful posts, and I hope you will find something new to try with your child(ren).

It would be great for everyone to stop by and visit the other linked-up posts as well. Check them out, leave some comments, pin those that interest you. Let's make this a real party and socialize with each other.

We are still in the middle of our metamorphosis/life cycle lessons in our class at co-op. Last week I shared the construction paper Frog Life Cycle Poster we made. This week's craft is another frog life cycle craft. It was shared on my Frog Metamorphosis/Life Cycle Fun Round Up a couple of week's ago. I loved the look of this Frog Life Cycle Recycled Craft from Still Playing School. Of course, I changed things up a bit, as I tend to do. The original craft just has one body that the child can turn from the tadpole into the frog. I decided to make each stage and place them into a habitat in a box so the children could play with them.

I plan to continue to share my Pre-K unit posts on Fridays, even though it is on Tuesdays that I will be sharing the craft that we made.

Now, onto this week's craft!

Recycled Frog Life Cycle in a Pond Habitat

Here's what you will need:

Brown construction paper

Blue construction paper

Green foam sheet

Green pipe cleaners/fuzzy sticks

Large bubble bubble wrap

Egg cartons (3 sections per child)

Wiggle eyes (6 per child)

White glue

Green paint

Black permanent marker

Q-tip

Paintbrush

Small box or shoebox

Tape

In preparation I painted the outside of all the boxes green to represent the grass. I would have used shoeboxes if I had them; however, I was able to get some used, small boxes from Walmart. Then I cut an egg carton into separate cups.

I cut the pipe cleaners for the legs. Each child will need 6 larger pieces (about 2 inches) and 6 smaller pieces (about 1 1/2 inches). Each child also needs 2 tails, which I cut out of a green foam sheet. And I cut out pieces of bubble wrap for the eggs. I taped the boxes together at the bottom and glued in pieces of blue construction paper to fit the bottom. I also cut brown paper into ovals for rocks.

The first thing the children did was paint three egg carton sections. One for the tadpole, one for the tadpole with hind legs, and one for the frog.

Then we used the permanent markers to draw dots on each of the bubbles in the bubble wrap.

The children then went to snack and gym. This gave the paint time to dry. Before they returned, I cut slits in the tadpole and tadpole with legs so they had a place to put the tail. And I used a knife to make little holes for the legs in the tadpoles with legs and the frogs.

When the children returned they made the legs by wrapping the smaller pieces around the one end of the bigger piece. It just wrapped around one time. They did need help with this step.

Then we attached the pieces one stage at a time.

We stuck the tails into the slit in the back of the tadpole.

Then we added the tail to the tadpole with legs and added two legs.

Finally we attached four legs to the frog.

We completed them by gluing the wiggle eyes onto all stages except the eggs.

Here is a quick look at each of the stages:

Then the children added one stage at a time to their habitats.

Here are all their finished projects:

Recycled Frog Life Cycle in a Pond Habitat

Let's take a look at that review schedule real quick:

Last week I shared my review of the STEM activities from Tied 2 Teaching. This week I will share my review for Poetry for the Grammar Stage from Memoria Press.

In April I will be sharing reviews of CrossWired Science and Techie Homeschool Mom. Then in May I will share my review for a couple of books from 12 Gates Publishing, Pathway to Liberty, and Elementary Math Games from The Critical Thinking Co..

Here are a couple of things I would like to share with you:

Frog Metamorphosis/Life Cycle Fun Round Up

Springtime Fairy Round Up

Focusing on the Cross With 15 Jesus-Centered Books for Resurrection Sunday

Focusing on Jesus Resurrection Day Round Up

Now onto:

Littles Learning Link Up Features

On my last Littles Learning Link Up post, there were 11 wonderful posts linked up. I will be sharing a randomly selected post and the top clicked on posts.

Please, don't forget to stop by other posts that are linked up. See what catches your eye, stop by, pin the post to a relevant board, and perhaps leave a comment to let the author of the blog know you have been by for a visit. I know I appreciate others commenting and letting me know they have read my posts, so I am sure others do too.

This week's randomly selected post is:

Kelli from 3 Boys and a Dog shared Proverbs 19:21 Coloring Pages

And here are this week's most clicked-on posts:

Tara from Homeschool Preschool shared How to Make a Rain Cloud in a Jar with Preschoolers

Brandy from The Barefoot Mom shared Learning About Ancient Rome: Activities and Resources for Elementary Students.

Join the Party!

I would love to have you join in this week! What sort of activities do you do with your young children? Do you have some favorite activities you would like to share? I invite you to link up below. I will be pinning posts on one of my relevant boards, and I would love to feature some of the activities each week from what is linked up.

Please know I may share a picture from your post and link back to it, along with sharing how we used your idea in our school time. By linking up you are giving me permission to use a picture from your post. I will ALWAYS give credit and link back. Additionally, if you choose to try out any of the ideas with your child, please make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Linky will be open through Monday night, to give me time to check out all the posts and get the Features organized. Please take the time to visit some of the other wonderful posts linked up.

No button currently, and there won't be one until I can figure it out seeing as Photobucket has changed things. Feel free to still share the picture in place of the button. Just link it to my Littles Learning Link Up permalink please.