Five Green and Speckled Frogs - Books You Can Sing

Five Green and Speckled Frogs - Illustrated by Constanza Basaluzzo
(Scholastic, Inc., 2008)

What do you get with five green speckled frogs, a great book, music, and a room full of children?

Silly, singing children having lots of fun.

This is one of the all time favorite songs and books of my kinders. No matter which version we sing, they love the story, melody, and motions. We read and sing through each as often as I can stand it.

Motions?
Of course. I always add or make-up and then add motions - the sillier, the better.

Props?
You bet. Some examples are:

~ large cardstock frogs that are colored and laminated. These are held up by five students and go down one by one as the frogs jump into the pool.

~ plastic toy frogs. Just what it sounds like. Those funny, greenish plastic tub or play toys. They love this activity when I also provide a blue towel (the cool pool) and a bumpy, messy log (the speckled log).

~ hand-made puppets. They love making their own green speckled frogs from paper plates, markers, felt, googly eyes, glue, and staplers. Tip: Fold paper plate in half, color the outside green, draw a red tongue on the inside (a strip of red construction paper works better), glue on googly eyes, and add a strap on the top outside to help students to grip the puppet.

Other ideas:

~ felt frog stickers on top of wide craft sticks

~ magazine frog cut-outs, glued to cardboard

~ oh, I almost forgot the absolute favorite - froggy bean bags

Music?

Definitely. Our favorites are Raffi and CJ's Fundamentals.

You will have so much fun, you may find yourself outside with a net, digging through mucky ponds, hoping to secure a green and speckled frog for your terrarium!

Now I'm Reading...

Wow, life really happened since I decided to add a new blog! I'm still reading, but the in between times are crammed with excitement and happenings...almost a baby, ready to be un-pregnant daughter, wild talkin' grandson, new daughter-in-law and happily married son, friends and family and festivities...not to mention that school begins in less time than I need to prepare my room! Help!

But right now, I'm reading a great book (well several, but only one I'll mention now). Childhood and Nature, Design Principles for Educators by David Sobel (2008) is the primary book for a class I'm taking and hoped to finish before school starts (not going to happen).

I love this book! It takes me right back to my childhood experiences with free play and long summers and oodles of time spent outdoors exploring, creating, and enjoying nature. Although this is written for people who work with children, it really reminds me as a grandparent how much I need to make sure to have it happen for my grand babies. And I realize that I encouraged embracing the outdoors for my own children, allowing them to delve into the messy of outdoors.

IT is fun times in the great outdoors. Time and space and freedom to interact and learn and make connections with nature in an unstructured way.

So much so, as I reflect on my own childhood and how much we loved dirt (grass, trees, bugs, frogs, sticks, mud, ponds, flowers, horses, dogs, you get the picture) and constantly eroded Dad's sand pile (hauled in for a specific purpose), so much that he never was able to use it for the intended project. I thought about my carefully landscaped yard, where each section has a purpose.

And where is the free exploration place for my babies? I think I need to add another planter box and fill it with dirt. Nothing fancy. Just dirt. Rocks maybe. Add some spoons and containers. He (and soon she) will love it!

Back to the book. I've always loved nature. I feel so relaxed and the stress just drops off when I'm out in the forest and take deep breaths of the evergreen air. Or strolling on the beach and smelling the briny salty water and running my toes through the icy cold water and sand of the Pacific Northwest. That nature connection is very good for my health.

Rating: Great read. Relevant for NOW. Green. Back to the basics and what is really important for our younger generations. No electricity OR internet access required.

Go unplugged. Take this book outside and sprawl on the grass under a huge shady tree. Pretty soon the book will be laying by itself. You'll be daydreaming about days gone past or excursions soon to come.