You will need:

• Large plastic container/bin
• Glass gems (used in flower vases typically)
• Green foam sheets
• Blue food coloring (optional)
• Toy frogs
• Spoons or shovels or nets to scoop and “fish” for frogs

Steps to make and examples of how to incorporate language:

1. Pour water into the container
   • Have the child help to fill up a watering can or bowl with water to pour water into the bin
   • Use the word “in” frequently to work on prepositions with younger kiddos as you pour water into the bin
   • If working on expanding vocabulary with little ones, repeat one word phrases frequently “water” or “in” or “wow” or “wet” etc.
2. Add food coloring if desired for blue water
   • Work on colors by having them pick out the blue food coloring from all choice options
   • Expand and model language by labeling what you are doing i.e., “we are mixing the water”
3. Add gems
   • Work on colors as you pick them out, and prepositions/spatial terms as you drop them “in” to the water and they fall “down”
   • Talk about how they feel, are the smooth? bumpy? What shape are they?
4. Cut foam paper into lily pad shapes
   • Work on colors by having them pick out green foam sheets from among other colors
   • Trace the lily pad outline with a marker and let the kiddos cut along the lines if old enough
   • Make different shape “lily pads” and work on labeling shapes as the float in the frog pond
5. Add frogs
   • Compare frog figurines, examine which ones have spots or stripes, compare and contrast similarities and differences
   • Work on verbs by having the frogs “jump” and “swim,” encourage your kiddo to act these out
   • Work on answering questions by placing the frogs different places and asked “where” they are each time
   • Expand language by labeling “frog,” expand to utterances with “frog jump!” or “frog is jumping!”
6. Give children nets or scoops and enjoy!
   • Label the actions they are doing while they play
     • “Scoop frog!”
     • “Frog jump!”
     • “Frog swim!”
     • “Frog jump in!”
     • “Frog is jumping in!”
     • “On top!”
     • “On top of lily pad!”