FROG Life-Cycle Gelatin Tray

FROG Life-Cycle gelatin tray is a TASTE-SAFE sensory bin for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergartners to explore these amazing amphibians from the egg to an adult.

Small-world sensory play is extremely important for developing brains. Children during early years perceive the world around them through SENSES, thus the FROG gelatin tray is a TASTE-SAFE sensory bin to explore the life-cycle of these amazing creatures who are said to have “two lives.” Besides, sensory invitations to play are such an amazing tool to build nerve connections in the brain while supporting cognitive growth, social and language development, fine motor skills, dexterity, and more! Most importantly, senses are heightened the most during early life, approximately in the first six years of life. So with toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners, it is paramount that we harness this time and take advantage of these sensitive periods of development during which sensory stimulation is crucial for the child’s optimal development. These sensitive periods or “windows” are time-lapses during a child’s life where he/she has a better aptitude for specific abilities and has keen interests in them. Later on, those interests and aptitudes disappear-forever!

FROG Life-Cycle Gelatin Tray

YOU’LL NEED FOR FROG Life-Cycle Gelatin Tray

• sensory tray or a bin to contain everything (we are using this serving tray)
• the lifecycle of a frog set (or get 15% off your entire order HERE)
• gelatin
• blue food coloring
• grain, beans, or dried pasta to represent land
• wooden slice (optional)

HOW TO SET UP TASTE-SAFE SENSORY BIN

First, warm up one cup of water and add a few drops of blue food coloring. Then, add one tablespoon of gelatin and mix immediately or the gelatin will clump up. Once the gelatine dissolves, pour the mixture into a large serving tray. Allow gelatin to cool down and harden. (You can place it in a fridge to speed up the process).

TASTE-SAFE sensory filler is fun and super simple to make. Although this FROG Life-Cycle Gelatin Tray is TASTE- SAFE, it tastes HORRIBLE since the is NO SUGAE added to discourage little ones from eating it. Still, supervise your little ones really closely as this can be a choking hazard due to the thickness and slippery texture. 

When you are setting up this lifecycle invitation to learn, you will use gelatin to represent water, where the amphibian begins its life, and green lentils as land, where the adult frog lives. Decorate your “land” with a wooden slice, dried flowers, moss, etc. Let your imagination be your limit!

DISCUSS FROG LIFECYCLE and Introduce Vocabulary

1. Eggs: depending on the species, the female frog may lay hundreds or even thousands of eggs in ponds or lakes. The eggs are covered by an awfully tasting jelly-like substance, which protects the eggs from fish that might want to eat them.
2. Tadpoles hatch from eggs about 21 days after the eggs have been laid. As the tadpole develops, it forms gills for breathing and a fish-like finned tail that helps it swim.
3. Tadpole without gills: over the next few weeks, tadpole’s gills are replaced with lungs.
4. Tadpole with legs: after about nine weeks, the tadpole’s hind legs appear, the front legs develop, and the tail begins to shorten and eventually disappears.
5. Adult frog: approximately 12 weeks after the egg was laid, a fully developed frog is able to leave the water and venture onto land.

Discuss What is an Amphibian?

Frogs are amphibians (meaning “two-lives”). Toads, newts, salamanders, and caecilians (blind worms) are also members of the amphibian group. “Two-lives” means that frogs begin their lives in the water as eggs and then tadpoles, and when they are fully developed, they live on land. Frogs are cold-blooded, which means that their bodies are the same temperature as the air or water around them. When they are cold, they will lay in the sun to warm up; and when they get too warm, they will go into the water to cool their bodies off.

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SENSORY PLAY

This TASTE-SAFE FROG LIFE-CYCLE sensory bin offers endless possibilities for learning! When you have Toys That Teach, you will see the wonder in your child’s eyes as they explore the natural world around them. By learning about lifecycles with Safari Ltd authentic high-quality sets which are affordable and meticulously made, you are setting multidimensional real-life invitations to play which will affect the long-term language, social, cognitive, and physical development of your child! So, please take advantage of those sensitive windows of opportunity and play, learn and grow with your child!

What the hand does, the mind remembers!

Dr. Montessori

Always supervise your children while they are learning through play.

Have you tried setting up FROG Life-Cycle play trays? Leave a comment if you did!

Frog Life Cycle Learning Kit

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