Tadpoles Turn into Frogs

Children live through a frog's transformation: from egg to tadpole wiggling its tail, then back legs grow, then front legs, and at last it hops like a frog. It walks through the motor progression from crawling on the belly to creeping and jumping.

How to play

1. We're eggs in the pond: curled into balls, we rock in the water while the teacher tells the story (1 min).
2. Tadpoles: we crawl on our bellies across the mats, legs together, wiggling them like a little tail (3 min).
3. Back legs grow: we keep belly-crawling, but now we push with our legs like swimming frogs (2 min).
4. Front legs grow: we crawl on hands and knees around the pond, over and around the mats (2 min).
5. We're frogs! We hop from lily pad to lily pad (hoops on the floor) with our hands between our feet (3 min).
6. The frogs sunbathe, sitting on a lily pad, and croak very quietly (1 min).

Rules

• I move like what I am right now: tadpole, tadpole with legs, or frog.
• When I crawl, I look ahead so I don't bump.
• One frog per lily pad; if it's taken, I find another.
• I hop carefully and land softly.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: does the transformation with the arms (tail with hands together, swimming, jumping arms) from their spot or with help.
• Visual impairment: an adult holds hands during the frog stage, and hoops are swapped for small mats they can feel underfoot.
• Less skilled children: in the frog stage, they can jump with two feet without hands down or step from hoop to hoop.

Learning goals

• Move by belly-crawling, crawling and jumping.
• Understand a transformation through movement.
• Control the landing after a jump.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Mats: 4
• Hoops: 25

Teacher tip

Put the mats together in the middle for crawling and the hoops around them, so each new stage also means a new place. Show a photo of tadpoles first; many kids have never seen one.

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