Frog and Toad

Frog and Toad

By Arnold Lobel

Frog and Toad are best friends. They go on adventures, see if they are very brave, have dreams, cheer each other up, and learn about will power. They learn it’s ok to be scared – and get “The Shivers,” and how to keep a good friend.

These books are funny, easy to read, and are broken up into short stories. The stories can be read individually or all together depending on time constraints. They are good read alouds even for book loving toddlers, but would probably hold the attention of an independently reading third or fourth grader.

We have “The Adventures of Frog and Toad,” a collection with the books “Frog and Toad Are Friends,” “Frog and Toad Together,” and “Days With Frog and Toad” in it.  Each chapter is a stand-alone story.

Older children could really get into comparing Frog and Toad – maybe compare personality traits, strengths and weaknesses, etc.

Every story seems to have a theme or project that jumps out at me. Here are some of the first ones that popped into my mind while reading this treasury to Cadence – over, and over, and over again. They are just little thought snippets, not even complete sentences, but maybe they will give you some ideas!

Spring – Calendars, time, spring, melting snow

The Story – Make up a story, cheering up a sick friend

A Lost Button – Finding Toad’s Button, gifts, treasure hunt, shapes, colors, thickness, counting, process of elimination

The Letter – write a letter to a friend, mail, post offices, mail carriers

A List – make a list of things you do everyday, organization, being flexible

The Garden – gardens, plants, how things grow, helping someone who is afraid

Cookies – will power, baking cookies, feeding birds

Dragons and Giants – bravery, fairy tales, birds of prey (who eat frogs and toads!)

The Dream – vanity, boasting, bad dreams, friends

Tomorrow – procrastination, tidiness

The Kite – determination, trying again, kites

Shivers – fear, scary stories, make believe, make up a scary character and illustrate them – tell all about what makes then scary and how you might ‘defeat’ them

The Hat – big ideas, try on lots of different size hats, etc

 

Here is one project we did together –

Finding Toad’s Button

First read “A Lost Button”

Scatter buttons on the floor, or hide them, depending on child’s skill level
Look for the right button (make sure there is one in the batch that fits the description!) – use process of elimination and talk about shapes, colors, etc.
Draw a picture of Toad’s jacket
Glue on the right button, then several ‘wrong’ buttons
Older children could cut out a felt jacket and sew or glue the buttons on
After the glue dries, you can shake the jacket and see if you ‘sewed’ them on tight enough
Be sure to leave plenty of time for scattering, sorting, and otherwise playing with the buttons!