Classroom Frogs Activity (With Poems)

This activity involves the telling of frog poems then the making of lily pads by the children. Dress the kids as frogs before they jump from lily pad to lily pad.

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What you need

Green cardboard
Paints
Crepe paper
Green garbage bags

Instructions

This Classroom Frogs activity is a fun, energetic, and creative way to bring frog-themed learning into the classroom. It combines simple paper crafting, movement play, imaginative dress-up, and short frog and tadpole poems that are perfect for young children.

The activity works especially well for preschool, kindergarten, early primary classrooms, therapy groups, storytime sessions, or any frog, pond life, spring, nature, or animal-themed lesson. Children get to make their own lily pads, pretend to be frogs, practice jumping and crouching, and listen to simple poems about frogs and tadpoles.

It is a lovely way to encourage fine motor skills, gross motor movement, creativity, listening, turn-taking, and imaginative play all in one easy classroom activity.

What You Need

Green cardboard or cardstock
Green crepe paper
Child-safe scissors
Glue sticks or craft glue
Sticky tape or painter’s tape
Green garbage bags
Paints, crayons, markers, or other decorations
Optional: frog poems printed as posters or handouts

Making The Lily Pads

Start by cutting out around 10 lily pad shapes from green cardboard. These do not need to be perfect. Simple large leaf shapes work well, and you can cut a small V-shape into one side of each leaf to make them look more like lily pads.

Make the lily pads large enough for the children to stand near or jump beside safely. If you are using them with very young children, larger lily pads are easier to see and step around.

Set aside five of the lily pads for decorating. Give the children green crepe paper and show them how to scrunch it into small textured pieces. They can then glue the scrunched crepe paper onto the lily pads to create a bumpy, leafy surface.

You can also let the children decorate their lily pads with paint, crayons, stickers, paper frogs, paper flowers, or blue paper “water” details. This is a great opportunity to talk about ponds, frogs, tadpoles, insects, and plants.

Once the lily pads have been decorated, leave them flat to dry.

Setting Up The Frog Jumping Game

While the children are decorating their lily pads, place the remaining five lily pads on the floor. Use a little sticky tape or painter’s tape to secure them so they do not slide around.

Place the lily pads a child’s jump width apart. Keep the distance small and safe, especially for younger children. The goal is not to make the jumps difficult, but to encourage movement, balance, and confidence.

If you have a larger group, you can create more than one lily pad path or make a simple pond area where children can take turns hopping from pad to pad.

For extra fun, you can add blue fabric, blue paper, or a blue mat around the lily pads to represent water.

Dressing Up As Frogs

To turn the children into little frogs, take green garbage bags and carefully cut a head hole into each one. You may also cut arm holes if needed.

Place one garbage bag over each child like a simple frog costume. Always make sure the costume sits safely and comfortably and does not cover the child’s face or restrict movement.

Once everyone is dressed, invite the children to crouch down like frogs. Encourage them to practice frog movements such as:

Croaking
Crouching
Hopping
Jumping
Squatting
Stretching their frog legs
Pretending to catch flies

You can turn the group into a “croaking choir” by asking each child to make their best frog sound. Try having them croak softly, loudly, slowly, quickly, or one at a time.

Once the croaking choir is ready, let the children take turns hopping from lily pad to lily pad.

Classroom Activity Ideas

This frog activity can be used in several different ways depending on the age of the children and the theme of your lesson.

You can use it as a movement break between classroom activities, a creative follow-up to a story about frogs, or part of a pond life science lesson. It also works well as a group activity where children take turns, cheer each other on, and practice moving safely in a shared space.

You can ask questions as the children play, such as:

Where do frogs live?
What do frogs eat?
How do frogs move?
What sounds do frogs make?
What is a baby frog called?
How does a tadpole change as it grows?

For younger children, keep the focus on sound, movement, and imaginative play. For older children, you can add simple facts about the frog life cycle and compare frogs and tadpoles.

Adding Frog And Tadpole Poems

We have included several frog and tadpole poems that can be added to your classroom activity. You can display them as posters, print them as handouts, read them aloud during circle time, or use them as part of a frog-themed bulletin board.

Children may enjoy acting out the poems, adding frog sounds between lines, or choosing movements to match the words. These poems are short and simple, which makes them ideal for younger children.

The Frog

A little frog sat on a log
And said, “Nobody cares about me.”
A duck came along
And said, “You are wrong,”
And gobbled him up for tea.

Jimmy And James

Jimmy is a tadpole,
A playful little bloke.
James is twelve weeks older,
And my, how he can croak!

The Tadpole

My tail is shorter,
My legs are longer.
When I’m a frog,
I’ll be much stronger.

Extra Learning Ideas

To extend this activity, you can create a frog life cycle display showing eggs, tadpoles, froglets, and adult frogs. Children can make each stage using paper circles, yarn, pom poms, or drawings.

You can also turn the decorated lily pads into a classroom display. Add the poems around the lily pads and let each child write their name on the lily pad they decorated.

Another fun idea is to use the lily pads for counting games. Number the lily pads from 1 to 10 and ask children to hop to a number, count the jumps, or match frog pictures to the correct lily pad.

You could also turn the activity into a simple obstacle course by adding frog actions to each lily pad. For example:

Hop three times
Croak loudly
Touch your toes
Crouch like a frog
Jump to the next lily pad
Wave your frog arms

Teacher Tips

Use tape that is safe for your classroom floor and always test it first.

Make sure the lily pads are secured well so they do not slip.

Keep the jumping distance suitable for the age and ability of the children.

Let children hop beside the lily pads rather than directly on them if the cardboard is slippery.

Supervise the garbage bag costumes carefully and make sure they do not cover faces or restrict movement.

For a calmer version of this activity, use the lily pads for seated circle time and let children place toy frogs or paper frogs on the pads instead of jumping.

Why This Activity Works Well

This Classroom Frogs activity is simple to set up but offers a lot of learning through play. Children get to create, move, listen, pretend, and participate in a group experience.

The lily pad craft encourages creativity and hand skills, while the frog jumping activity helps children use their bodies in a fun and purposeful way. The poems add a literacy element and introduce rhythm, rhyme, and simple storytelling.

It is an easy classroom project that can be adapted for different ages, group sizes, and learning themes, making it a lovely addition to a frog, pond, spring, or animal unit.