Preschool Pond Animals Theme
Welcome to my Pond Animals Theme Planning Page. Below you can find a variety of activities focused on Lily Pads, Frogs, Ducks, Turtles and the many other animals that make a pond their home.
Club Members can download our pond activities and pond theme planning guide for free!
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Free Pond Preschool Theme Map
Sign up below to get a free sample plan that we made using ideas on this page!
Add these items to your Art Space this week: Green Play Dough, Green Construction paper, Feathers and Wiggle Eyes.
*Paper Plate Lily PadCreate a mini pond with lily pads using the potato stamping technique. See the Lily Pad Potato Stamping tutorial for details.
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Try this!
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Paper Plate Turtle ShellProvide a paper plate and tissue paper squares for your preschooler to create a paper plate turtle shell. Introduce the term scutes, and other facts, as they make their critter.
Your preschooler may wish to add a head and legs as well! Or the turtle might have it's legs and head tucked into his shell. |
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Frog & Turtle Rocks
Paint rocks to look like frogs and turtles. Create a pretend pond outside and use the rock animals for pretend play.
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Pond Animal Tracks
Provide plastic pond animal figures and paint in a shallow dish. Invite your preschooler to dip the animals in the paint, then create stamp on paper to create animal tracks.
Pond Dip
This tasty opportunity encourages preschoolers to practice measurement and following directions!
As an added bonus it's an excellent way for preschoolers to tickle their taste buds with some healthy choices. Directions for the Pond Dip |
Try this!
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More Pond Animal Art and Creativity Preschool Ideas
Paper Plate Lily Pads from Tippy Toe Crafts
Paper Plate Frogs from Preschool Playbook
Hand Print Duck from Crafty Morning
Play Dough Pond from Mom Inspired Life
Dragonfly Craft from iheartcraftythings
Paper Plate Frogs from Preschool Playbook
Hand Print Duck from Crafty Morning
Play Dough Pond from Mom Inspired Life
Dragonfly Craft from iheartcraftythings
*Create a Life-Sized PondTurn your Dramatic Play Area into a Life sized Pond. Add Blue Fabric Water, Brown Fabric Dirt, and Green Fabric Grass. Add a variety of items: Fishing Poles, Picnic Basket, Binoculars, etc.
This adorable pond dramatic play space was created by community member Cheryl V.
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Photo Credit: Cheryl V.
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Act Out Your Favorite Pond Rhyme or Story
Read some pond related stories or rhymes with the children. Set the books out in the Dramatic Play Area along with dress up clothes and props that could be used to act out the stories. Invite children to act out scenes from the different stories or rhymes.
*Build a PondAdd materials to encourage children to construct their own Ponds.
Items to add: blue fabric or silk scarves for water, blue felt or fabric for dirt/mud, Pond Animals (Frogs, Ducks, Fish), Twigs, gems, green cut felt for lily pads or green lids from empty containers. |
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Build a Bridge
Provide your students with building materials to build their own bridge over a pretend pond. You can use a blue sheet or blanket as the pond.
Take an invitation to build outside!
Use sidewalk chalk to make a pond. Add blocks to construct a bridge, small houses, lily pads, or to use as logs in the water. Be sure to bring pond animals and little insects. The dragonfly, fly, and other little creatures in this Insect set from Learning Resources is perfect for this theme. |
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More Pond Animal Building & Small World Preschool Ideas
5 Speckled Frogs Natural Small World Play from The Imagination Tree
Feed the Frog GamePreschoolers love games where they get to feed an animal. Combine that with their love of insects and frogs to make this game a hit.
Fun and engaging way to support letter recognition. PKPF Pond Animals Activity Pack |
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Letter Hide and Seek at the PondAdd this letter seeking game to your literacy center with your favorite manipulatives to promote letter recognition and visual discrimination skills.
PKPF Pond Animals Activity Pack |
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*Pond Animal 3-Part CardsPond animal 3-part cards are a great way to memorize and learn to read the names of a variety of pond animals. Try this one for free!
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Buy this Activity Pack!
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Lily Pad Alphabet JumpDraw lily pads with letters on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk (or use paper plates if inside).
Play music and encourage children to hop from pad to pad. When the music stops, children identify the letter they landed on. If able, encourage your preschooler to make the letter phoneme or say a word that starts with that letter. |
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Fish For Letters
Fill a sensory bin with water beads and plastic letters. Give children nets or scoops and have them fish the letters our of the "pond." Once they have caught a letter, have them identify the letter before throwing it back into the sensory bin. You could also give the children a specific letter to try to catch. This activity is great for letter identification!
More Pond Animal Language & Literacy Preschool Ideas
Pond Sight Words from Counting Coconuts
Five Little Speckled Frogs Puppet SticksCreate puppet sticks of 5 frogs and sing “5 Little Speckled Frogs” together. Listen to the song on YouTube here!
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Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner
Pond Walk by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Turtle Splash Countdown at the Pond by Cathryn Falwell
The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner
In the Small Small Pond by Denise Fleming
Life in the Pond by Craig Hammersmith
And the Bullfrogs Sing by David L. Harrison
From Tadpole to Frog by Shannon Zemlicka
The Frog Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Pond Walk by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Turtle Splash Countdown at the Pond by Cathryn Falwell
The Wide-Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner
In the Small Small Pond by Denise Fleming
Life in the Pond by Craig Hammersmith
And the Bullfrogs Sing by David L. Harrison
From Tadpole to Frog by Shannon Zemlicka
The Frog Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel
Pond Animal Count & ClipCount and Clip cards are a fun way to support math skills and fine motor development.
Count how many on top, then identify the correct numeral, and clip with a clothespin. This activity is included in the PKPF Pond Animals Activity Pack. |
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Frogs Counting MatPractice numeral recognition and counting aloud with this Frog Counting Mat from PKPF.
This activity is fun for independent exploration or to play with a friend. PKPF Pond Animals Activity Pack |
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Frog and Lily Pad Shape MatchingPractice shape recognition and matching with this cute lily pad and frog activity. PKPF Pond Animals Activity Pack
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Frog Jump MeasurementPreschoolers love to learn about measurement.
Use fine motor skills to make the frog jump, next practice measuring skills by measuring the distance, then practice writing numerals and gathering data by recording the results. You can find this activity included in the Frog Science Activities pack by Pre-K Printable Fun |
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*Lily Pad Counting CardsUse the lily pad counting cards from the Pond Animals Activity Pack activity pack along with pom poms or other favorite counters to practice numeral recognition and counting skills.
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Learn and Practice AdditionAdvanced preschoolers and kindergartners are working on learning to add groups of objects together.
Support this development with this hands-on Beginning Operations activity with a fun frog theme! This set is included in the Beginning Operations: I Can Add activity pack from Pre-K Printable Fun |
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Rubber Duck Number Identification
Write numbers 1-10 on the bottom of rubber ducks. Add the ducks to a bucket of water or water bead sensory bin. Have children pick up a duck identify the number and count to that number then put the duck back in the "pond."
More Pond Animal Math Preschool Ideas
Duck Pond Addition Activity from Fantastic Fun and Learning
Feed the Frog activity from My Little Princess World
Feed the Frog activity from My Little Princess World
Add: Frogs & Turtles, Ducks, Foam Lily Pads, Stones, and
Twigs to your Sensory Bin this week.
Twigs to your Sensory Bin this week.
Frog Egg Sensory BinYour preschoolers are going to love this sensory experience. See the Frog Egg Sensory Bin Tutorial for details.
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Try this!
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Differences Between Frogs and ToadsExplore the differences in frogs and toads with the activities included in the Frog Science Activities pack
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Label Parts of a DuckThis labeling activity supports children as they learn proper names and parts of a duck . This activity is included in our Pond Animals Activity Pack
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*Life Cycle of a FrogUse this activity after a discussion about the life cycle of a frog. Or pair with a fun book like From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer
Get the Frog Life Cycle figures here and the activity is included in the PKPF Pond Animals Activity Pack |
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Pond Sink or Float
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Set up an invitation to experiment!
Fill your sensory bin with water and supply materials for children to add to their mini pond. Material suggestions: rocks, pebbles, grass stems, cattails, toy frogs & turtles, and fake water lillies. Encourage your preschooler to predict if each item will sink or float before they add it. After each, talk about why they think it floated/sank. As they continue with the activity, encourage them to recall prior information when making their hypotheses. "The rock didn't float. Do you think the grass stem will float? What are the differences between the rock and the grass stem?" If you're in the market for a new water table this pond theme water table from little tikes is adorable. |
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Pond Sensory Bin Ideas
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Pond life Sensory Bin Submitted by
Erica's Educare Learning Center |
Photo Credit: Erica's Educare Learning Center
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Pond Life Sensory Bin
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Reader Cheryl V shared this pond sensory bin. She added frogs and numbers from the Pond Animals Activity Pack for her preschoolers to find.
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Photo Credit: Cheryl V.
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More Pond Animal Science & Discovery Preschool Ideas
Assemble a Pond PuzzlePractice numeral recognition while working on fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination with this pond themed number puzzle from our Pond Animals Activity Pack
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*Color Lily Pad JumpUse the colored lily pads included in our Pond Animals Activity Pack
to create a frog jumping game. Encourage your little frogs to jump from pad to pad, when they stop they can announce what color they landed on. |
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Practice Fine Motor & Scissor SkillsPractice cut and paste skills with this Pond color, cut, and paste activity. Included in the PKPF I Can Color Cut and Paste a Scene activity pack.
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Duck Duck Goose
An oldie but a goodie! Take your preschooler outside to play a friendly game of Duck Duck Goose!
Move Like a....
Call out a pond animal and challenge your preschoolers to move around like that animal! There are so many interesting creatures at the pond, moving like them will get bodies moving in a variety of ways!
Feed the Frog
Create a frog you can feed by cutting a slit in a tennis ball and adding googly eyes. Have children Use tweezers to “feed” flies (black mini pom poms) to the frog. Students develop fine motor and coordination skills as they pinch the tennis ball to open the frog's mouth with one hand and use the tweezers to pick up the pom poms and put them in the mouth.
More Pond Animal Physical Development Preschool Ideas
Frog Jump Gross Motor Activity from Coffee Cups and Crayons
Take a Trip!Visit a pond to make observations.
Bring a clipboard with blank paper for children to draw the pond or any creatures they see at the pond. This is a great time to introduce and practice thoughtful, quiet observation. Close your eyes, what sounds are heard? What animals can be seen above water? Are their insects hovering nearby? Can animals be seen below the surface? When observing a pond, patience is key! |
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Talk about Water Safety
While studying Pond Animals talk about water safety with your preschoolers. Make sure they know that if they ever come across a body of water, no matter how shallow, they should be with an adult.
Talk about life vests and precautions people can take to be safe around water. Consider having a life vest available for children to investigate and try on.
Talk about life vests and precautions people can take to be safe around water. Consider having a life vest available for children to investigate and try on.
*Calm Down Binder-Lily Pad
Help children practice calm down strategies by using this lily pad jumping page from my Calm Down Binder. Have the child use one finger to jump from one lilt pad to the next mindfully breathing in between each jump.
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Be the Pond: Mindfulness VideoPractice mindfulness with this zen den video. Listen to the animals around the pond as you begin to relax. Our mind is like a pond full of fish. Watch your feelings (fish) swim by you as you focus on being the pond, observe the fish, and not get swept up by them. Watch on YouTube here!
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Learn & Sing a Silly Song
Mmm Ahh Went the Little Green Frog is super cute and perfect for this theme!
Learn this song and sing with your preschoolers during circle time.
As a follow up, create little paper frog and fish puppets to use the next day during circle.
Learn this song and sing with your preschoolers during circle time.
As a follow up, create little paper frog and fish puppets to use the next day during circle.
Finger plays, Songs, and Rhymes
There are lots of fun finger-plays and songs to go with the Pond Animals Theme. Here are a few favorites
- Five Green and Speckled Frogs
- Five Little Fishies
- Row Row Your Boat
- Five Little Ducks
Keep cards with these favorite songs near your circle area for children to choose from each day.
This set of Fingerplays, Songs, and Rhymes from Pre-K Printable Fun includes little cards for this purpose along with lyrics to 28 favorite Fingerplays, Songs and Rhymes for preschoolers including these pond ones.
This set of Fingerplays, Songs, and Rhymes from Pre-K Printable Fun includes little cards for this purpose along with lyrics to 28 favorite Fingerplays, Songs and Rhymes for preschoolers including these pond ones.
More Pond Animal Educator Resources
Pond Songs for Preschoolers from Let's Play Music
Share about a Pond Visit
Inform families that you will be doing a study of Pond Animals. Encourage them to visit a pond with their child if they are able and take lots of photos!
Create a digital album or print the pictures to display in the classroom. Encourage children to share about their experience.
Create a digital album or print the pictures to display in the classroom. Encourage children to share about their experience.
