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FROGS IN THE POND

Preparation time: approximately 5 to 10 minutes - Working time with children: 2 x approximately 10 to 15 minutes - plan for one day's drying time

All teaching units

INTRODUCTION

What noise do frogs make? "Quack, quack", "mmmm, mmmm", "oak, oak" or "app, app"? In spring and early summer , you can hear a frog concert on ponds and other bodies of water. Depending on the type of frog, this can be loud and resonant calls or just a slight growl. With a bit of luck and a cautious approach to the waters, you will be able to watch frogs with your children. Most of the time, the shy animals will remain hidden and you will only be able to hear them.

But even if the children can only hear the frogs, their interest will be awakened. Young children particularly enjoy imitating animal noises and jump around with joy like happy frogs.

If the animals cannot be observed in nature, the children learn their appearance via illustrations in picture books or encyclopedias. They then create simple frog figures on water lily leaves as window pictures for the group room or home.

PEDAGOGIC AIMS

  • The experience of nature, e.g. walk in the spring to a pond with frog spawning: discover the natural habitat of frogs.
  • Get to know frogs: Special features of these animals, what do they look like? How do they move? What do they eat? What noises do they make?
  • More in-depth: get to know the life cycle of frogs
  • Learn a new technique: colour round coffee filters
  • Developing fine motor skills with colouring, cutting and glueing
  • Train hand-eye coordination
  • Increase endurance and concentration
  • Promote joy in creative design

MATERIAL AND RESOURCES

  • Round paper filter (coffee filter) in white, 94 mm diameter
  • Marker in green, black
  • Plate or large cover; pipette and cups, alternatively spray bottle
  • Coloured paper in light and dark green, white, black; glossy paper in light and dark green
  • Pencil, ruler, compass, scissors, hole-punch
  • UHU stic ReNATURE or UHU stic

UHU STIC RENATURE GLUE STICK WITHOUT SOLVENT

  • Glue stick container made from 58% renewable raw materials
  • Saves fossil resources, reduces CO2 emissions and is 100% recyclable
  • Screw cap protects against drying out
  • Adhesive mastic up to 98% from natural ingredients
  • Adheres quickly, strongly and permanently
  • Easily applicable
  • Can be washed cold

UHU STIC GLUE STICK WITHOUT SOLVENT

  • Screw cap protects against drying out
  • Adhesive mastic up to 98% from natural ingredients
    Simple - Clean - Economical
  • Adheres quickly, strongly and permanently
  • Economical
  • Easily applicable
  • Can be washed cold

PREPARATIONS

  • Most of the time, preparation by adults is necessary for creative activities with children under the age of three; this is also the case here. Adults create the basic shapes for the children, which the children then cut to shape or cut in the middle.
  • The preparation time is between 5 and 10 minutes, before the actual creative activity is performed with the children.

STEP-BY-STEP PLAN

It is best to spread the craft activity over two days so that the first finished water lily leaves can dry overnight.

TIPS

  • You will find portraits of individual frog species with playable sound recordings on the Nature Protection Federation of Germany website at http://www.amphibienschutz.de.

©2017 UHU GmbH & Co. KG, Bühl (Baden) and Elke Fox. Workstep photos: Eva Danner, Beate Vogel. Photo Page 1 top left and page 2 top: © johnmerlin / Fotolia.com; Illustration Page 5: kerstiny / Fotolia.com. Editorial staff and other photos: Elke Fox.