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!