Will frogs be making their way into your Pre-K lesson plan calendar this year? Do you already have all the materials and ideas that you need? If not, you may want to read on:
Science
Start the frog lesson plan by playing a nature sounds CD that contains the creature’s vocalizations. One to consider investing in is “Echoes of Nature: Frog Chorus.” Instruct the children to close their eyes and imagine that they are in a tent somewhere listening to those sounds in the dark. Ask them to think about which animals are making those noises.
While they are doing that, set up a wash basin area that contains lily pads, water lilies, dried cattails and live tadpoles. Oftentimes, you can purchase such items through specialty shops and pet stores. Then instruct the kids to open their eyes.
Invite them over to the wash basin area and point out the live tadpoles. Explain that tadpoles start out as eggs and eventually turn into frogs. Then show the children photos and a diagram of a frog’s life cycle.
Arts and Crafts
Next, move the kids to the arts and crafts area of your classroom. The DLTK website has instructions and templates for making a wonderful frog life cycle craft with bubble wrap and construction paper that you may want to consider utilizing.
I’d also suggest helping the children make jumping frogs with origami paper. There are instructions for making the craft posted on the Artists Helping Children website. The children could use the jumping frogs as part of a combination frog jumping contest and math activity.
Math
To set-up the frog jumping contest and math activity, create a start and finish line with duct tape onto a long table or your classroom’s floor. Then use number lines as side lines for the racing area.
Once that’s done, have the children place their frogs onto the start line. Next, let them make their frogs jump from one spot to another. Then ask the children to use the number line to measure the distance the frogs jumped. Keep going until all of the frogs have crossed the finish line.
Later, engage the children in two additional frog games. Printable game boards and instructions for each one are available through the Education website. Game titles to look for are “Board Game: Cross the River” and “Coin Toss: Mr. Frog.” The same website also contains two great math worksheets that you could use too. They are titled “Leap Frog” and “Skip Counting by 5: Frog Hop!
When the children have finished with all of the math games and worksheets, read Karma Wilson’s book “A Frog in the Bog” aloud. It contains references to a jumping, hungry frog and numbers.
Dramatic Play and Music
Follow it with a second book, Ellen Stoll Walsh’s “Hop Jump.” Then put the nature sounds CD back on and let the kids spend some time hopping and dancing like the characters in Walsh’s book.
Afterward, teach the kids a few frog themed songs, finger plays and rhymes. Ones to consider using are “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” and “I Have a Little Frog.”
Finally, wrap up the lesson by letting the kids complete a few handwriting worksheets. There are a multitude of customizable frog worksheets available through the Twisty Noodle website that you could use. Vocabulary works to consider using are frog, eggs, pond, hop and green.
Source: Personal Experience
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