Frog and Toad ~ A Unit Study

Slimy and green and leaping in spring… What could be more perfect to learn about (for little ones) than frogs and toads?! Take a week or so to examine these interesting creatures and perhaps you will finally learn the difference between the two!

  

Suggested Picture Books: "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher" by Beatrix Potter, What I Like About Toads by Judy Hawes (Let's Read and Find Out Science Book), The Frog and Toad Collection  (I Can Read Book 2) by Arnold Lobel, From Tadpole to Frog (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) by Wendy Pfeffer

I would suggest reading together from the above books (and any others on the same topics) and having the children do some of the listed activities below each day according to their abilities. Include all work separately in a notebook/binder or composition book for each child (clip art for cover is shared below). Have them decorate their own covers with frog/toad pictures, stickers or clip art. Encourage them to be creative. By the end of a few weeks you will have an educational keepsake and homeschool records.

Frog and Toad Inspired Learning Activities~

Suggested Spelling List (give words at the beginning of unit and test at the end of the unit):

1. egg
2. frog
3. tadpole
4. adult
5. pond
6. slimy
7. green
8. toad

Science: Read to the children, What I Like About Toads by Judy Hawes (or any other book about toads from your library) and do the following activities. 

Science/Math: What I Like About Toads shares (on page 6) that one toad ate 86 houseflies in ten minutes! Can your children count to 86 out loud? Have older children do the math to find out how many houseflies would be eaten in twenty minutes. How about one hour?

Science: Read to the children, From Tadpole to Frog (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) by Wendy Pfeffer (or any other book about frogs from your library) and do the following activities.

Science: Draw and diagram the life cycle of the frog. Younger children can use this printable from Enchanted Learning which can be colored and labeled.

Science/Art: Draw a realistic picture of a frog or toad and label the body parts.

Science/Nature: What is the differences between a frog and a toad (answer found here)? Do a Venn diagram making sure to place the differences on the proper sides and the similarities in the middle.

Science/Research (for older children): Do frogs really cause warts?

Science/Bible/Music: Frogs are often sadly associated with evolution. Play this anti-evolution song to your children about the famous fairy tale of the Frog and the Prince. I think the message is very clear and easy to understand. Now is a good time to discuss the theory of evolution to your children and how the Bible teaches about a different doctrine, called Creation. You will find lots of information on this subject at Answers in Genesis for further study.

The Plague of Frogs (1670 Engraving by Gerard Jollain)

"Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings."

~ Psalm 105:30

Bible/World History/Family Discussion: Read the Story of Moses with your children (Exodus 2). If they aren't familiar with this story, then read a few chapters a day until it is finished. If they are very familiar with it, then you can just focus on the "Plague of the Frogs". Have the children try to imagine what life would be like with a plague of frogs! Imagine their drawers filled with frogs, food filled with frogs and their bath filled with frogs. What scenarios can they come up with that wouldn't be too pleasant? Isn't it better to just obey God at the beginning? Discuss this with your children.

Bible/Art: Have children copy the Bible verse above about frogs in their best writing and draw a picture to narrate the verse.

Bible/Language Arts: Have the older children write a story of "The Day in the Life of an Egyptian Child" during the plague of the frogs. 

Language Arts/Narration: Read "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher" by Beatrix Potter and have your children retell the story back to you in their own words (This is called narration).

Language Arts/Science: Prepare a frog and toad menu that Mr. Jeremy Fisher would approve of for his guests based on the types of foods that they like to eat.

Basic Skills/Science/Nature: Download this wonderful Peter Rabbit Printable Activity Set ~ Real Animals (Science & Nature) for some fun learning games to do with your younger students.

Basic Skills/Art: Download this free Jeremy Fisher, Connect-the-Dots Coloring Page for your younger children.

Art/History: Bring out some watercolor paints and attempt to illustrate some frogs and toads in the Beatrix Potter style. You may also like to check out a juvenile book about Beatrix Potter and read it to the children.

Language Arts/Learning to Read: If your children are learning to read, have them practice with The Frog and Toad Collection by Arnold Lobel. These are fun little books that will delight all readers (my personal favorite story in this series is about a "lost to-do list"). If they aren't to the reading stage, then you will enjoy reading these books to them. Remember, the more interest they have in books, the more interest they will have to learn to read them for themselves!

Language Arts: Read the following poem to your children.

Frog and Toad

Hopping frog, hop here and be seen,

I'll not pelt you with stick or stone:

Your cap is laced and your coat is green;

Good bye, we'll let each other alone.

Plodding toad, plod here and be looked at,

You the finger of scorn is crooked at:

But though you're lumpish, you're harmless too;

You won't hurt me, and I won't hurt you.

by Christina Rossetti

Language Arts/Penmanship/Copywork: Older children can copy a few verses a day of the poem above in their best writing making sure to pay careful attention to punctuation. You will find the benefits of this type of copywork here.

Language Arts/Grammar: Print out the poem above and have the children circle the verbs in blue, the adjectives in red and the nouns in green.

Science/Geography: In what type of habitat do frogs and toads live in. Write a list of places where you would find them.

Home Economics: Make some frog cookies with your children. Make sure they do all the measuring and cleaning up.

Foreign Language: Learn how to say "frog" and "toad" in the foreign language you are studying.

Physical Education/Science/Art: Go out on nature walks in search of frogs and toads. Make sure you look in their proper habitats. Have the children leap and hop from here to there as you go. If you find one, see if they will let you sketch them! When you get home, try and identify them based on their skin coloring. 

Art: Draw a picture of a frog sitting on a water-lily pad (you can also print out a full size of this tutorial page here at the Graphics Fairy if you like).

Art: Draw a picture of a tadpole (instructions are shared above also).

Arts/Crafts: Do some frog crafts or activities with the children.

Art: Print out some free, vintage frog coloring pages with this link.

Art: Print out the picture above (courtesy of the Graphics Fairy) and have the children color and label on the blank side to the right, "Frog and Toad" Unit Study by Jeremy Fisher, Age 6 and use it as a cover page for this study. Of course, they will put in their real names and ages!

"It's never the wrong time to call on Toad. Early or late he's always the same fellow. Always good-tempered, always glad to see you, always sorry when you go!"

~ Kenneth Grahame

{Visit here for more free unit studies!}

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