Latticed Learning - Ponds & Rivers

Learn while playing with Latticed Learning!  This week's theme has plenty of activities to go along with it - keep reading to find out more!




Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means if you click on a link and purchase something, I'll receive a small affiliate commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting my efforts with this blog!

Welcome back to Latticed Learning!  This year, we're continuing to learn while we play - repeating many of our favorites from the past while adding in all sorts of new activities as well.

This day's post is devoted to our weekly themes - some weeks have more activities than others, but each lesson will be fun for you to explore with your little one!

Read All About It





At the Pond is a really different type of book - a close-up photo is presented of a pond creature along with a clue to its identity.  Then the reader gets to turn the page and find out what it is.  It's great for not only presenting plenty of facts, but really engaging the reader, as well.



Fish is Fish is a cute little story about a minnow and tadpole.  When they get older, fish's frog friend tells him all about the wonders he sees out in the big, wide, world, but little fish's interpretations of the creatures aren't quite on the mark.



Five Green and Speckled Frogs is such a fun song to sing.  I love the silly illustrations in this version, but I think Gv most loves the fact that the final page of this book includes sheet music for the song.  Oh, yes, my piano-playing skills are really being put to the test...



Fat Frogs on a Skinny Log - if you're looking for alliteration or adjectives, this book's for you!  It's also sure to make you laugh as you watch the scene unfold while these fat frogs all cram themselves on this one tiny little log...



Down By the Cool of the Pool - repetition, rhyme and sound effects fill the pages of this wacky tale of a frog and all of his dancing friends.  Plus, just look at that cover - doesn't it just scream fun?





A Frog in the Bog

Frog's Lunch

Frog and Toad Are Friends

Jump, Frog, Jump

In the Small, Small Pond

Make Way for Ducklings

Beaver Gets Lost

Curious Critters

Same or Different?

The River Grows

My River

Little Otter's Big Journey

The Giving Tree

And the entire Froggy collection (yes, we have them all!)



Sing Some Songs



We listened to these selections this week:


There were plenty of perfect songs on the Frog Trouble album that I mentioned in this post.

This album continued to be appropriate.

Even if we hadn't watched the movie, this soundtrack was fun to listen to this week.

Watch Some Videos


We watched the Magic School Bus episode Hops Home.

Gv loves Nature Cat, so she had fun watching Ponds Are Pond-tastic.

She also discovered this appropriate Dinosaur Train episode.

Finally, we had a little lounging fun together and enjoyed this movie.  



Play and Create


We did several things to correspond to our topic this week:


Gv went fishing for magnet letters in her own little "pond" bucket:


The original bucket I gave her kind of swallowed her up...

So we switched it out for one that was more manageable.  Her fishing pole was just a paper clip tied to the end of some yarn.

Then I made her a little duck hat and she donned her special duck robe:


All ducked out - I just used construction paper to create a Mo Willems-inspired duckling hat

We used a plastic container full of water so Gv's rubber duckies could float around in their own pond.

Then I gave her a squirt bottle full of water so she could try and move them around by spraying them.



Then we removed the ducks and I zipped a sandwich bag over one of Gv's hands so she could see what a difference webbed feet made in the water:



We ate "frog on a log" snacks:


Not much different from "ants on a log," except we smeared the peanut butter onto a carrot and then stood the raisins up nice and tall before chowing down on it all.

I printed out pages 4 and 6 of these cute pond printables for Gv to do.


It was interesting to see how Gv chose to do this.  When I saw her going for the "1" to circle, my instinct was to stop her and correct her.  So glad I didn't, because she obviously knew what she was doing, even though it was different than how I would!

This was another one of those cases where I tried something, just to see what she'd do with it, even though I was guessing it was way above her level.  I asked her what the four pictures were, then I told her to find the word that matched the picture.  She cut out the words, then picked one up, said the first letter's name and the sound it made, then looked at the pictures and figured out which word it must be.  Another case of her surprising me with what she can do!



Gv and I made our own version of Monet's Water Lilies (inspired by this).


Gv ended up adding some glitter at the end, which looks quite lovely, in person.


She used watercolors to turn a cupcake liner green, then painted the swirly water background.

We snipped some chunks out of the flower and the lily pad, then glued it all down.


Finally, I saw this and created a 5 Frogs on a Log printable that you can use to make this fun toy:





Want to get your free copy of the printable, along with the instructions on how to make it?  Just click on over here!

Looking for all the great posts associated with this concept in one place?  Check out my Latticed Learning page here!



What's your favorite thing that we did this week?  I'd love to hear!  Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.


Also, if you don't want to miss a single minute of great tips like this and all the fun around here, be sure to sign up for free updates and then look forward to having each post delivered straight to your inbox!



Linked up with: Favorite ThingsOver the MoonShare the Wealth SundayDishing it & Digging itWhat's for Dinner?Family Joy Blog Link-Up,  Literacy Musings MondayPractical MondaysHomeschool Nook Link UpHappiness is HomemadeMerry MondayMotivation MondayWhat'd You Do This WeekendMeet Up MondayTotally Terrific TuesdayTogether on TuesdaysShow Me Yours LinkyTasty TuesdaysLittle Learning Link UpTwo Uses TuesdayHip Homeschool HopLou Lou Girls Fabulous Party  Tuesday Talk, Wonderful WednesdayA Little Bird Told MeEverything Early Childhood, Creative MusterParty in Your PJs,What to Read,I Am Pinnable, Christian Bloggers Link UpThis Is How We Roll, Creative WaysHearts for HomeCreative Exchange 100 Happy DaysTry It Like It, No Rules Weekend Blog PartyTune in Thursdays,  Booknificent ThursdaysThursday Favorite ThingsI'm Lovin' It, Inspiration SpotlightHome MattersPretty Pintastic PartyWeekend PotluckAwesome Life FridayCreative CollectionThe Beautifully Creative Inspired Bloggers Pit StopWeekend Traffic JamPin Me Party,  From the ArchivesFamily Fun FridayFriday FrivolityBloggers SpotlightMake My Saturday SweetWeekend Wind-Down Party,Friday Features LinkyFuntastic Friday Best of the WeekendSweet Inspiration Link PartySmall Victories SundayYou're Invited Love to Learn Tuesdays