Toad Villas

* Appropriate for ages 3 and up

Objectives
- to learn about the benefits of toads and frogs in our garden
- to encourage their occupancy in our garden

Materials
- clay pots (preferably broken in half)
- live toads to look at or pictures of them
- clay soil and grass clippings to make adobe houses

Part One:
Read a book about toads to the children (see list of books below for ideas), discuss their needs, likes and dislikes.

Part Two:
Go on a toad-seeking expedition in the garden, or show children some toads you found previously.  Children can hold the toads if they want, making sure they are gentle.  Talk about what toads are doing in the garden.  Ask how they think we can make sure the toads stay in the garden.  Introduce the idea of making the toads a home.

Part Three:
Have fun making the toad houses with the children.  Have them help you place the houses in the garden, creating a nice shady shelter for the toads.  Place a source of water near the house for the toads.  A shallow container can be buried and filled up with water to make a shallow pond.  Check it often throughout the summer, changing the water at least weekly so mosquitos don’t take up residence.

Questions to Ask:

• How are toads different from frogs?  Toads generally have dry, bumpy skin and live on land, while frogs have moist, smooth skin and live in or near water.  Toads have stubby bodies with short hind legs.  They walk rather than hop.  Frogs are skinny and have long legs.  They have strong, webbed hind feet for leaping and swimming.
• Do toads croak?  Yes, both toads and frogs have distinctive songs.  That’s how they call the females.

Resources:

• Frogs and Toads by Bobbie Kalman and Tammy Everts, Crabtree Publishing Co. 1994
• From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer and Holly Keller, Harper Collins Pub. 1994
• For a children’s website on frogs (including pictures and sounds), visit http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/living-green/living-green-citizen/for-kids/frogs-for-kids.html ; for answers to frog questions, visit http://cgee.hamline.edu/frogs/science/faq1.html#life
• Frogland – http://allaboutfrogs.org/froglnd.shtml

Indoor Beach Party

Whisk your children away to the beach without leaving your classroom or home!  Put on your sunscreen, grab your sun hat, and stay where you are!

What you’ll need:
Water table or outdoor kiddy pool or shallow pans filled with water
Sand table or sand box or shallow pans filled with sand
Dish soap (mild formula such as Ivory)
Small plastic fish, shells, and other underwater objects
Sand toys such as shovels and pails
Beach towels
Bathing suits

Make water scopes to look and see what is under the water in the wading pool or water table.   To make a water scope, remove the top and bottom of a large coffee can using a can opener.  Use a hammer to pound down the edges around the can so that they are smooth.  Cut clear plastic wrap or bags into pieces that are large enough to cover the top of the can.  Secure the plastic with a rubber band.  Have your children submerge the can under the bubbles (from the liquid soap), and they can pretend to be underwater explorers and report on the the neat things they see under the sea!

Activity:  Fish in the Sea
This game can be played indoors or outdoors during your beach party.  This game is similar to Duck, Duck, Goose, but instead we are going to call each of the participants “Guppy”.  Remember to make that each child gets a turn when playing this game.

Have your children sit in a circle, facing inward, while one child, the ‘picker’ , walks around tapping each child sitting in the circle on the head, calling each a ‘Guppy’ until finally picking one to be a ‘Shark”.   The ‘Shark” then rises and chases and tries to tag the ‘picker’, while the ‘picker’ tries to return to and sit where the ‘Shark’ had been sitting.   If the picker succeeds, the ‘Shark’ is now the new picker and the process begins again.   If the ‘Shark’ succeeds in tagging the picker, the ‘Shark’ may return to sit in the previous spot and the ‘picker’ resumes the process.  The game continues until the children tire of it.

Activity: Sand Sculpting

What you’ll need:
1 cup of play sand
1/2 cup of cornstarch
3/4 cup of hot water
nautical-themed sand molds and cookie cutters

Mix all of the ingredients into a pan.  Cook slowly stirring constantly until very thick.  Cool mixture.  Form objects unding cookie cutters with nautical shapes or sand molds.  Let dry in the sun and overnight (approximately 12 hours).  The children could even paint them when the shapes are dry!

Stay tuned for a wiggly fishy snack recipe in tomorrow’s post!

Find more ideas here – http://www.ehow.com/how_4543277_throw-indoor-beach-party.html

Puddle Jumping

You will need:
- Rubber boots
- Old clothes (ones that can get dirty)
- Umbrellas
- Raincoats or garbage bags with arm holes
- A rainy day

Directions:
Get the children dressed for outside rainy day fun. 
Once the children are ready to go outside,  let them go and play in the puddles. 
Help the children learn how to jump with one foot and how to jump with two feet.

Suggestions:
- Jump like a frog, a kangaroo, a bunny, etc.
- Jump hard, jump soft
- Sail boats in the water
- Measure the rainfall
- Once back inside, make rain puddles out of paper and let children jump from one puddle to another while ”rain music” is playing

Sidewalk Chalk

 

½ cup Plaster of Paris

¼ cup water (for coloured chalk, add food colouring to water)

 

·        In a small container (margarine tub) put Plaster of Paris.

·        Add water – DO NOT MIX YET!

·        With masking tape, cover up one end of a toilet paper roll.

·        Stir mixture into a soupy consistency.

·        With a spatula, put half of the mixture into the toilet roll.

·        Tap down the toilet roll to release air bubbles.

·        Pour the rest of the mixture into the toilet roll.

·        Tap down again to release the rest of the bubbles.

·        Let stand for 24 hours.

·        Tear off the toilet roll and enjoy!