Learning About Life Cycles: Tadpole/Frog Lessons

Learning About Life Cycles

A unit of preschool ideas 

on Life Cycles

Welcome to the first week of my Learning About Life Cycles unit.

Like my Arctic Animals and Hibernating Animals lessons, both weeks will feature books I recommend to go with each topic, a craft or two, songs, motion rhymes/finger plays, activities/games and even snack ideas. 

This is the schedule:

Week 1: Tadpoles/Frogs
Week 2: Caterpillars/Butterflies

I do not think we will be doing any other animals as we are getting close to the end of our co-op year. Hopefully I will get a chance to teach this Pre-K class again next year, so I will be able to bring you more fun lessons. 

We continue to start each class with the song "Good Morning to You." We did continue to sing our "Did You Ever See a Polar Bear?" song and recite our "The Snow Fell Softly" poem, but that was only to practice for the end of year program, so I'm not going to include them with my Life Cycle Lessons posts. Instead, I am going to share the Spring song I came up with for us to sing these last few weeks, plus the tadpole/frog songs we sang. In the Caterpillar/Butterfly post you will find relevant songs.

Flowers are growing

(To the tune of Running over)

by Karen Waide

Snow is melting, flowers growing

Spring is here the flow’rs are growing

It feels warm to me

I’m as happy as can be

Spring is here, and flow’rs are growing

These lessons actually took place over a period of three classes. We had one class per week, one craft each week plus songs, activities, and books.  

Tadpole/Frog Lessons

Here are the books we used for our lessons:

Week 1:

Fabulous Frogs by Martin Jenkins

A Tadpole Grows Up by Pam Zollman is my favorite easy book about the frog life cycle. 

Jump, Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan

Week 2:

From Tadpole to Frog by Jan Kottke

What Did I Look Like When I Was a Baby? by Jeanne Willis

Week 3:

The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner

Each of the first two weeks featured a frog life cycle craft.

Week 1

Frog Life Cycle Poster

You can find the details for this craft over in my Littles Learning Link Up: Frog Life Cycle Poster post.

Week 2

Recycled Frog Life Cycle in a Pond Habitat

Here are the different stages of the frog life cycle. We made them following the instructions in one of the posts that was included in my Frog Metamorphosis/Life Cycle Fun Round Up. Though the original idea over at Still Playing School didn't have three separate figures for each stage. She had it so a child could transform the tadpole to the frog and then do it over and over again. I decided I wanted the children to see each stage side-by-side, and I wanted to give them a little habitat which we made inside a box.

You can find specific details over in my Littles Learning Link Up: Craft Highlight - Recycled Frog Life Cycle in a Pond Habitat post. 

Week 3

Frog Lapbook

For our third week we made a Frog Lapbook instead of doing a craft. I used elements from different printables that were shared on my Frog Metamorphosis/Life Cycle Round Up. I'll link to each blog as I mention that part of the lapbook. 

We started out by making Life Cycle Flip Books. The top, title page is a 3x3 inch square, while each page is 1 inch longer than the one before. 

I had already cut out the different stages and the labels (which I found over at Living Life and Learning). My daughter Amelia helped me glue the labels on so we wouldn't run out of time during class. All the children had to do was find the correct picture and glue it onto the page. Then I stapled the pages together, and stapled the finished book to the inner left flap of the lapbook.

Next the children glued five lily pads to the center section of the lapbook. Then I wrote each number from 1-5 on their lily pads. Next I applied the corresponding number of dots of white glue to the lily pads, while counting the numbers. I used to do this with my children all the time to help with number recognition and counting. The children finished up by attaching the correct number of frogs. I just searched for a frog picture I liked, shrunk it down to about one inch in my word processing program, then copied and pasted enough times so each child would have 15. 

Fun With Mama has a Frog Life Cycle Learning Pack that included some counting puzzles. I cut out the puzzle of the frog eggs, but left the other stages complete so the children could see how they were meant to go together and also so they wouldn't have more than one puzzle in the pocket.

In order to make the pockets I cut out paper in the shape you see below:

Then the narrow part gets folded down (or up depending on how you are holding it). You need to fold the sides in and glue them down.

Then apply glue to the back, turn it over, and attach it to the right side flap. The cut up puzzle fits in nicely. I figured more than one could be stored at a time, but only after the children had time to work on one at a time. Which is why I only cut out the one (plus, I admit, I ran out of time to cut the rest. However, it worked out well this way)   

Then I flipped the lapbook over so we could add a "Parts of a Frog" illustration. These are a part of the Frogs and Their Life Cycle Unit Study from Life of a Homeschool Mom.

I printed out an already labeled copy to use as reference.

I had the words all cut out and spread them out in front of each child. Then I pointed to the part we were looking at and told them what it was called and helped them look for the correct word.

They then glued them on.

Activities

We tend to sing songs and do the activities while we are waiting for parts of our projects to dry.

Seven Little Speckled Frogs

I printed out some frogs to use with the "5 Little Speckled Frogs" song. Except I made sure I had enough frogs for each child, and when each frog jumped into the pool, one of the children took a frog and sat down with it. 

We sang this song the first week and the last week. We didn't have time during the second week. After we used it on the last day, I had the children take the frogs over to where I had set up another activity. 

Feed the Frog Race

I printed out 18 flies for each child (yes they are pictures of real flies), cut them out, and laid them on a blue sheet of construction paper (sort of like they were flying over the pond). Then I cut out strips of red paper and attached a folded over piece of packaging tape to the end. This was the sticky frog tongue. They were to hit the tongue to the flies and try to pick them up as fast as they could, removing them as they went and "feeding" them to the frog. I timed them for one minute to see if they could feed the frog all the flies.

I think they enjoyed it. We played it twice, but ran out of time to play it again.

Musical Lily Pads

Another activity the children have enjoyed is our Musical Lily Pads game. We played Musical Paw Prints when we learned about the polar bear, and Musical Icebergs with other Arctic animals. For the lily pads I just used green construction paper. This time I had them hop around like frogs, in between the lily pads, and then when the music stopped they had to hop on a lily pad.

Song

Tadpoles Swimming in the Pond

(to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)

by Karen Waide

Tadpoles swimming in the pond

in the pond in the pond

tadpoles swimming in the pond

flitting here and there

hold one hand out in front of you and flit it back and forth like a fish

They will grow some legs real soon

legs real soon, legs real soon

they will grow some legs real soon

growing every day

tap your legs with your index fingers

last line put hands together and pull apart slowly

Soon their tails will disappear

disappear, disappear,

Soon their tails will disappear

What did they become?

Place hand behind back and flit back and forth, then quickly remove it and cover eyes

keep eyes covered

repeat

then shrug shoulders to question.

Now they can hop on land

hop on land, hop on land

now they can hop on land

they are now cute frogs.

Crouch down and hop repeatedly when singing the words "hop on land."

Snack

 I found this adorable idea for a frog life cycle snack because it is another one that was shared with me for my Frog Metamorphosis/Life Cycle Round Up. You can find the Edible Frog Life Cycle Snack over at Teach Beside Me.

I brought the foods with me and had the children put the life cycle stages together. The gelatin is made from unflavored gelatin made with water and lemon juice and honey (though I wasn't sure how much lemon juice or honey, so what I did use wasn't very tasty). The instructions said to form the gelatin in round molds, which I didn't have. So, I just made it in a pan and scooped globs out onto the children's plates. Then they stuck raisins in them.

The tadpoles were made by sticking small spinach leaves into the ends of grapes

Then we added shredded carrot for the legs on the froglet.

Honestly, aren't these the cutest. I couldn't pass this snack up.

Oh wait! It gets cuter. We used apples, grapes, and raisins to make the adult frogs. 

I cut an apple into quarters, then I cut a slit out for the mouth. In order to make the eyes the children stuck half a grape on a piece of toothpick, and then they added the raisin. The half grape was a change I made as I thought it helped pop the eyes out more and made the toothpick disappear more as I didn't want to use too tiny of a toothpick.

Then we just laid two more grapes on the plate in front of the frog for its legs.

Edible Frog Life Cycle Snack

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my first Learning About Life Cycles post. Don't miss my Caterpillar/Butterfly Lessons post. It will either post next Friday or the week after. And for the next few Saturdays I will be sharing the lists of the books I both used and "didn't have time to use but recommend" from the different units I have shared. So, stayed tuned for Picture Book Saturday to return. I will be sharing the Arctic Animals books, then the Hibernation Animals books, next will be the Tadpole/Frog books, and finally the Caterpillar/Butterfly books.