We’ve revisited the pond where last week we saw some frog’s eggs. It was a nice sunny day again, but much better as this time we didn’t get caught in a downpour on the way home! Upon our arrival we didn’t know what to expect.
We wandered over to the pond and had a look in. The eggs were still there, but the little black dots within them were now dark brown, oblong, little wavy swimmers. The eggs were not so clear like jelly anymore; they were becoming cloudy and with less structure and shape to them. They were starting to look more like tadpoles!
After each child had been brought over and had a careful look into the pond, we scooped some eggs into a jam jar to see if we could get a closer look at them without the worries of falling into the pond. This gave us a different perspective of the growing tadpoles.
We brought these fine specimens home with us for a visit and tried to make them feel welcome. Phil and Tristan found a box and filled it with water that has been sitting in our water fountain over the winter and had some decaying leaves and algae in it. Not pleasant to look at for us, but perfect décor for our new friends.
Wire greenhouse shelves and a rock made a lovely sun roof to compliment the surroundings.
We thought a few of the eggs looked a little cold and lonely, so we brought them indoors in the jar to keep them company. This also provides with the opportunity to watch them throughout the day.
We’re thinking they like the company as they’ve made themselves at home and the tadpoles have hatched from their eggs. They have grown larger around and in length. They have sprouted gills as well. They are very active at several times throughout the day, and at other times appear to be resting.
Tristan enjoys taking the jar to the table and looking at the tadpoles with a magnifying glass.
He’s discovered that if he moves the jar too much, then the tadpoles stop moving altogether.
We are all looking forward to seeing their progress over the next little while!
To read more about our frog life-cycles click on these blog posts:
Have a look at our pages about Spring ideas and nature activities for kids for more inspiration.
