Summer School: Ponds

I thought it would be a good idea to resurrect our little backyard pond this summer, so for week two of our at-home summer school, the curriculum was ponds. We cleaned out the muck that had accumulated in our water element and filled it with fresh water (and some dechlorinator). We planted a water lily at the bottom. And then we waited... In just two days we had frog eggs.

And a few days after that, tadpoles.

Just behind the tadpoles, little, shiny purple and green lily pads started popping up.

Selby is recording her observations of the pond, and charting the development of the tadpoles. We read stacks of library books on the life cycle of frogs, and we can't wait to see little frogs on our lily pads in a few weeks!

For indoor pond play, I covered the girls' little table with easel paper that they painted blue. We made bulrushes and lily pads from craft foam, and tissue paper lilies. We made tadpole eggs out of peppercorns in dried glue! And plastic frogs completed the habitat.

This table got a lot of hands-on play all week. (If you duplicate it, don't forget to throw some Goldfish crackers in your pond for a surprise snack!)

Books we enjoyed with pond week included: In the Small, Small Pond, Around the Pond and Would You Rather be a Pollywog?

Skills used: reading, writing, charting, counting