Preschool: Frogs

We are loving our spring themes this year.  Our frog theme was a fun way to learn about animals and life cycles. Check out this week full of all kinds of frog themed learning and fun!

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  Here were our plans for our Frogs theme:

  And here are the details for each activity:

Frog Life Cycle:

Our first read aloud was Frogs! by Elizabeth Carney. This book give a lot of information including the life cycle of a frog. Afterwards we practiced remembering the parts of the life cycle by drawing each stage.

Frog Problem & Solution:

Our next read aloud was I Don’t Want to Be a Frog by Dev Petty. After reading, we talked about the problem (the little frog didn’t want to be a frog anymore). Madelynn drew and labeled the problem then talked about how the problem was solved (he learned that it was a good idea just to be himself.)

Ribbit Predictions:

Nest we read a really cute story called Ribbit! by Rodrigo Folguiera. Before reading, we practiced making predictions.

I asked “After looking at the cover, what do you think this story will be about?”  Madelynn: “The pig is going to be friends with the frogs.”

    Then we read the story to find out if her prediction was correct.

Frog on a Log Comprehension:

Our last read aloud was Frog on a Log by Kes Gray which was a great book for working on rhymes. After reading, we talked about the silly rhymes and animals in the book. Then I asked: “Which part of the story is your favorite?” Madelynn drew the ending part and even copied the word “HELP” from the story.

Tracking Print:

Our last book was this letter P for Pond alphabet reader. Madelynn identified the picture then pointed to each word as she read. Since we switched to the more difficult version she is working on learning new sight words each week. Afterwards she colored all of the pictures in.

Frog Letter Writing:

Our first literacy activity this week was a frog themed letter writing tray. To make this fun sensory activity I filled our tray with blue sand. Madelynn used lily pad letter cards as a model and chose which ones she wanted to practice. Then she used frogs and/or her finger to write letters in the sand.

Pond Sound Stamping:

Next, for more letter practice we used our dot stampers. We started out stamping inside the letter to make a P. Then Madelynn had to find the upper and lowercase p’s in the pond, stamp them and make the “P” sound each time. Then she stamped the other letters different colors and tried to make the sounds for each one.

Rhyming Lily Pads:

Our other literacy focus this week was on rhyming words. I printed frog word cards and lily pad cards. Madelynn chose a frog and glued it onto a blue sheet of paper.  Then she tried to think of a word that rhymes with the picture on the frog drew it on a lily pad and glued it under each frog.

Frog Name Craftivity:

For this week’s name craft we created a frog pond.  First, Madelynn cut the frog and lily pad pieces out. Then she wrote the letters in her name on each lily pad. After she finished writing, she glued the frog together and added the lily pads underneath in order to spell her name.

Frog Journaling:

For our journal this week Madelynn chose to draw what she learned about frogs. She said “Frogs jump so high.” So I drew lines for each word, then we worked on writing the sounds together.

Color by Shape Frog:

We worked on identifying 3D shapes this week for our color by the code activity. Madelynn worked on identifying and naming 5 different 3D shapes: sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, and pyramid. I told her the color for each shape and she had to search and color each one in the picture.

Frog Clip Cards:

Our second math goal this week, was working on comparing numbers.  Madelynn choose a lily pad comparison card and counted the number of flies on each side. After comparing the numbers she decided which side had more and used a frog clip to chomp the side with MORE flies.

Grab & Compare Frogs:

Next, for more comparing practice I filled a small bin with plastic jumping frogs. Madelynn grabbed one handful, counted the number of frogs, and wrote it on a recording sheet. Then, she grabbed another handful of frogs, counted and recorded the amount.  Then, she compared the two numbers and colored the lily pad with MORE frogs.

Sort & Compare Frogs:

Our last comparing practice activity incorporating sorting.  I filled a small bin with rainbow gummy frogs (you could also use colored plastic frogs again). Madelynn sorted the frogs by color.  Then she counted the number of each color and recorded in the appropriate place on the recording sheet. In each section she compared the two numbers and colored the lily pad with LESS frogs this time.

Frog Number Sense Mats:

We used these mats to practice numbers 11-20 this week. First, Madelynn identified the large number. Then she made it with play dough and counted the flies in the ten frames. Next, she used a dry erase marker to practice writing the number, and finally counted out mini frog erasers to fill the pond with the correct amount.

Comparing Frog Jumps:

After learning about so many fun and interesting frogs, we talked about what it would be like to be a frog. Then we conducted a little investigation to show how amazing frogs’ jumps really are.  Ahead of time I marked a starting point with chalk, and measured the adjusted distances that the 3 frog types would jump if they were the same height as an average preschooler. Then I label each distance with a picture/name of that frog. Madelynn helped me lay out a 6 ft tape measure from the starting point. Then she stood at the starting point and jumped as far as she could.  We repeated this 4 times and recorded the data. Afterwards we discussed the results.  We definitely can’t jump nearly as far as frogs can with their amazingly strong legs!

Froggy Pond Sensory Bin:

In this sensory bin: plastic frogs, foam lily pads, water, blue aquarium gravel, rocks

Label a Frog Craft:

Our first craft this week was a cut, paste and label frog.  First Madelynn cut the frog pieces out. Then she glued the pieces together to make a frog. And finally she added the labels and drew lines to each part of the frog.

Jell-O Frog Excavation:

To prepare this fun sensory activity, I started by making 2 large packages of blue Jell-O according to the package directions.  Then before placing in the refrigerator to set, I added plastic frogs.  We waited for the Jell-O to set overnight.  Then Madelynn used spoons, scoops, and tools to rescue the frogs from the sticky pond.

Tissue Plate Frogs:

Our second craft this week was a tissue paper plate frog.  I watered down glue so that it was easily spreadable. Madelynn used a foam brush to paint a paper plate with glue and added green tissue paper squares. Then she painted over the squares with more watered down glue. And to finish off the face she cut out paper shapes to glue on the face.

Want all of this week’s Frog activities for preschool?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Frog Plans & Printables On TpT: Frog Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Preschool Bundle On TpT here: Preschool Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 45+ themes on the Preschool Curriculum Main Page.