Montessori frog unit
May 16, 2017 - Montessori , Playgroup - By Carine Robin
Currently, in the playgroup, we have an ongoing unit about garden animals, bugs, and all about Spring, and this week, it was all about frogs.
While researching the subject, I checked if it was illegal to collect frogspawn. While you can still take home some tadpoles and observe them in your own pond/bucket/tank, it's much better to encourage your children to observe in situ.
The frog life website is a gold mine of information with learning resources and a shop. It also told me that frogs number have decreased by 68% over the last 30 years!
This website is also full of info and clearly says:
"Whilst it can be great fun to collect frog spawn in the spring, we wouldn't recommend it, as moving them from one place to another can spread diseases such as chytrids. Amphibians will generally find their way over time to suitable ponds, so the most important thing is to create pond habitats that they will be attracted to"
Note that I introduce a unit in the playgroup to bring in some variety and to give new ideas to the parents. The unit is presented along with other Montessori activities that the children can enjoy every week. At home, I used to have a unit if my children were showing an interest in something in particular.
The units in the playgroup follow the seasons + some popular topics such as transports and dinosaurs as for sure, some children will engage totally with those subjects.
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LEARN MOREParts of the frog jigsaw:
We have a part of the frog jigsaw. This one is from Absorbent minds . I bought a set of 6 with a storage unit.
I added the part of the frog set from our Montessori box . Note that for the toddlers, I only use it as a matching game at first. If I have some older children, they might start to be interested in the words too.
Match the frogs - memo game
This memo game came from the Montessori print shop too.
Cards and counters with frogs
A variation of cards and counters: I printed those frog counters from here and used them with the numbers from a Melissa and Doug jigsaw . I'm all for repurposing toys and using them in various ways.
I also made paper puppets from here too to sing 5 Little Speckled Frogs.
And here are the cards included in our Montessori box:
Life cycle with replicas
And we worked with those replicas of frogs' life stages to explore life cycles.
We read these books:
Animal babies in ponds and rivers:
More material that I am looking at buying next!
Life cycles - 6 self-correcting puzzles
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About the Author: Carine Robin is a qualified and experienced Montessori teacher and founder of The Montessori Family. With over 15 years of experience, Carine offers a blend of professional insight and personal understanding as a mother of two and qualified child psychologist. Inspired by the success of her Montessori subscription box, she created The Montessori Family to provide a comprehensive resource for parents and teachers globally. This platform aims to support child growth and well-being through curated educational activities. Additionally, Carine maintains the UK's most popular Montessori blog and administers the largest Montessori UK Facebook group, making her a central figure in the Montessori community.
