Frog and Toad

Having a pet in the classroom can be an educational as well as a fun experience. An animal friend in the classroom can help children learn compassion, responsibility, and many scientific concepts.

At the start of our school year, the Cardinals inherited a small aquatic frog named “Billy.” Billy was an African Dwarf Frog that had been part of the AFS Early Childhood community for many years. Unfortunately, Billy reached his average life expectancy and passed away early last week.  

To explain Billy’s passing in an age-appropriate manner to the Cardinals, we read the book Lifetimes. 

Written by Bryan Mellonie and Robert Ingpen, this book allowed us to explain life and death in a sensitive, caring, beautiful way. Through the story, we learned that “there is a beginning and an ending for everything that is alive.”

“This is true for all living things.

For plants.

For people.

For birds.

For fish.

For trees.

For animals.

Even for the tiniest insect.”

After the read aloud and a brief discussion, the Cardinals discussed having a new classroom pet. As a result, the following morning two froggies were brought in.

During Morning Meeting, the Cardinals had a conversation about the species of the new members of the classroom. We learned that just like Billy, these two frogs are also African Dwarf Frogs. We were informed that the reason that they live in a small tank with little water is because these little critters live underwater, but need to rise to the surface to breathe air because they have lungs and not gills. These frogs are small in size and can grow to 2 ½ inches long. And, as a few Cardinals stated, “they’re so cute!”

The next question asked by a Cardinal was, “What are their names?” In hearing that we needed to name them, each Cardinal gave their choices of two names....

Radha – “Frog & Butterfly”

Tori – “Cupcake & Icecream”

Wyatt – “Rock & Tree”

Jayden – “Jayden & Evan”

Kate – “Frog & Toad”

Violet – “Butterfly & Cricket”

Noel – “Noel & Ian”

Trace – “Trace & Daddy”

Audrey – “Doggie & Cat”

Stell – “Butterfly & Seahorse”

Young – “Young & Monster”

Evan – “Stella & Toad”

Samuel – “Samuel & Solomon”

Lilly – “Mustard & Flower”

Kaya – “Frog & Frog”

Andrew – “Train & Another Train”

Katy – “Katy & Violet”

The following morning the names were drawn from a cup. Any guess on which set of names were drawn? Drum roll ......... “Frog and Toad.” Amazing! If you’re familiar with children’s literature, Frog and Toad are the two main characters in a series of easy-readers children’s books written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. Fantastic!

So, make sure to stop by our Science Center area in our classroom and greet our newest members of the Cardinal family, “Frog and Toad”. Frog is the smaller and slim one while Toad is the bigger and stout one with more black spots on top.