The unexpected nature studies just may be the finest kind. This morning was a regular sort of morning. The August mornings when we finish up the basics then head to the pool. Regular until Littlest Girl screamed, “there’s a frog swimming out of the filter!”
Eldest boy carefully scooped it and let it dry itself off on the concrete. Then the begging began. “Can we keep him, Mama? Can we? Can we? Huh?”
So, the cooler that housed the ice pack and two sets of epipens was re-purposed as a frog carrier. We stayed a little while longer, practicing swimming like a frog in the pool.
And then the frog was carried home to the Hodgpeodge household.
The children placed him in the butterfly habitat while we had lunch. And we talked about the backyard plastic pool. How glad we were that we didn’t dump the rain water that had filled it since last week. It was getting green and had plenty of mosquito larvae swimming around. Perfect frog food! We also did an internet search and learned a bit about How to Care for a Frog. But I really like the in-the-backyard-plastic-pool-and-can-take-care-of-myself kind of frog.
Eldest son’s observations: “Before today I’d never seen a frog sleep. He has clear eyelids – and they close from the bottom.” He also observed the frog snatch and eat a red ant from the side of the pool.
Middle Girl: says that his skin was “bumpy-ish” when she observed it up close with the magnifying glass.
Littlest Girl: “His legs are really, really long!”
But here’s what I, this mama, noticed. The children wanted to be outside the rest of the day. Despite the heat.
Watching the frog. Seeing what he was doing. Floating him around on the log.
I pulled out all the books we could find on frogs. We wondered – how can you tell if it is a male or female? What sort of Georgia frog is this? We narrowed down our findings but will take a bit more time to research and learn. Next, some sketched. Mostly they observed.
Five-year-old followed the Draw, Write Now book. 12-year-old took his handy notebook page from the August Outdoor Hour Challenges Newsletter outside to sketch.
Last week, Nana had found and already sent us a link to a wonderful, step-by-step drawing tutorial for frogs, tadpoles, dragonflies and lily pads! So, we will click over here and do some more sketches like above.
And we look forward to our time later in the week with our Creation Club. We are headed to a spot called Lily Pad Pond. Perfect for studying cattail, dragonflies and finishing up a summer frog study. Mason and pimento jars at the ready.
You can jump in on August Nature studies too. Just click over to the Handbook of Nature Study for a free download of the August Newsletter: Pond Edition. Many ideas for getting started with nature study, a ready made notebook page to enjoy, examples of how other families complete nature studies. Also, earlier this week I shared a review of Outdoor Hour Challenges over at The Curriculum Choice, explaining how nature study easily became a welcome addition to our homeschool.
So, any frogs swimming in your backyard plastic pool?
Oh, what fun! You are right…the best nature study is the impromptu kind. I love all the comments from the various children. Makes me want to go frog hunting!
Wonderful entry Tricia! I think you are so right and it is great to be able to have time to indulge in a little unexpected nature study when the opportunity arises. I love that your children spent the rest of the day observing the frog and getting to know more about it up close. Thank you for sharing your link with the OHC.
I love the observation by your son about the eyelids.