Welcome to day 13 of DIY Summer Camp at home. Our theme this second week of DIY Summer Camp is all about reptiles, including slithering snakes, terrific turtles, dangerous dinosaurs, amazing alligators and lively lizards. Today, we’re going to flip and flop with funny frogs. This makes for some fun activities that you can do right in your own backyard. Or, even better, you can send the kids out to do, while you relax.
Funny Frogs flipping and flopping
Technically frogs aren’t reptiles, they’re amphibians. But most people think of frogs when they think about other reptiles like snakes and lizards. Have you ever tried to catch a frog? Frogs are slippery, slimy, and move around a lot! They aren’t the easiest creatures to catch. But they are fascinating to learn about, so let’s hop right along and play with froggy facts.
Activity: Leap Frog Race
For this activity, you’ll need:
- colored rings (you can cut some out of construction paper)
- start and finish lines
- a large area
What you do:
You’ll want at least 3 different colors of rings to play, and preferably 1 color per child over the minimum 3 colors.
Place the start and finish lines in the large designated play area. Scatter the rings in between the lines, so that no color is in a straight line from start to finish, but that each color does have a connected line.
Line the players up at the start line. Assign each player a color. When the race starts, each player is to frog-hop onto their color of ring, and only their color of rings. They will continue hopping, only on their color, from start to finish. The first person to the finish line wins!
Activity: Musical Lily Pads
What you need:
- different color of cushions, mats, or paper “lily pads”
- music player that can start and stop easily
- large open area
What you do:
- Scatter the “lily pads” in the designated play area. Leave lots of space between them for players to “swim” in between. You’ll need one less “lily pad” than you have players.
- Start the music, and as the music plays, players “swim” between the lily pads. You can require them to make swimming motions or just have them walk or run. Optional: have players dance!
- When the music stops, each player runs to the nearest “lily pad”. Only one player may stand on a lily pad at a time. The player without a lily pad is “out” for this round.
- Remove a lily pad and start the music again.
- Repeat until you have one lily pad left. The player that stands on the last lily pad wins!
Snack: Oreo Frogs
What you need:
- oreos
- m&m candies or candied “eyes”
- pretzels
- icing
What you do:
- Use the icing to attach 2 pretzels to the bottom of each cookie.
- Use the icing to attach 2 “eyes” or m&ms to the top of each cookie.
- Hand out your yummy Oreo frogs! Enjoy!
Activity: Bubblefly Swat
What you need:
- fly swatters
- bubble wands
- bubble solution
- large open area
What you do:
Blow bubbles and let kids “swat” the “bubble flies” with their swatters. Remind them to watch for other children!
Activity: Paper Plate Frogs
What you need:
- paper plates
- cardstock or posterboard (green preferably)
- green paint or markers
- black construction paper
- white construction paper
- party blowers
- scissors
- glue
What you do:
- Color or paint a paper plate green.
- Cut out 2 large white circles and 2 smaller black circles for the frog eyes. Glue to the paper plate to make the eyes.
- Cut out frog arms and legs from the cardstock. Accordion fold and glue to the paper plate.
- Cut a small criss-cross in the middle of the paper plate, under the eyes. Insert the party blower into the criss cross, from behind, so the “blower” sticks out the front of the frog.
- Blow out the frog’s “tongue”!
Frog facts for you to share
Frogs are loud, jumpy creatures. Frog calls can be heard for miles! Each frog species has its own unique call too. Technically, frogs are amphibians, not reptiles. They don’t have scales, but they do lay eggs and they are cold-blooded. But they go through a metamorphic change from egg to adult, and they can survive in both water and land.
Check out the life cycle of a frog:
Species & Location
There are over 5000 species of frogs. Frogs are found on every continent, except Antarctica, so they are super common. Many people will mistake toads and frogs, with good reason. They look and act very similar! But frog skins are slimy and moist, where toads are dryer and bumpier. You won’t find a frog straying far from its pond, but you might find a toad in your backyard, even if you don’t have a pond close by.
Food
Frogs eat bugs. The size of the insect meal depends on the size of the frog. Larger frogs will eat more than just bugs too. They’ll eat snakes, baby turtles, small mammals like mice, and even other frogs!
Frogs have super long, super sticky tongues. So when their next meal comes along, out zips the tongue. It sticks to the bug, and snap! The bug will disappear into the frog’s mouth and be thrown down its throat.
Frogs don’t have teeth, so they swallow their meals whole. For bigger meals, the frog will blink. This forces their large eyeballs down on their mouths, which helps them swallow bigger mouthfuls. Frogs literally use their eyes to eat!
Babies
Frogs lay eggs in fresh water (or at least really close by!). Frog eggs are laid in a big jelly-like mass. Most eggs are left on their own, but there are a few species where mother frogs will watch over their babies.
Frog eggs hatch within a couple weeks. Tiny tadpoles pop out, and swim around while they grow, until eventually they start growing legs. If you ever find something that looks like a frog with a tail, it’s a baby frog that’s not quite done growing yet!
Eventually the tail disappears, and you’re left with a mature, if small, frog.
Appearance
Frogs are small creatures with bulging eyes and no tail. They generally have long back legs, short front legs, and a large, flat head attached to a body with no neck.
Frogs are generally green or brown, but some will have brightly colored markings too. Frogs that live in the tropics can be very colorful, from bright yellow to bright blue to orange! They can even be polka-dotted, striped, or have other patterns.
There’s even a frog in Africa that can change it’s color from green to white, to help it stay cooler in the hot weather.
End of the day: read aloud time.
There’s nothing that settles kids down like storytime at the end of the day. We spent a lot of time flopping like frogs today, grab a classic read-aloud and read a chapter every night this week.
Try one of these:
- Hiss-s-s-s!
- The missing ‘gator of Gumbo Limbo
- What the Tortoise Told Alice
- Willard Price: Python Adventure *Note: suspenseful!
Come back tomorrow for another day full of reptile-filled adventures. And don’t forget to subscribe so you get every day of the DIY Summer Camp at Home right in your inbox.
