tadpoles - summer science project

Last week, my sister had this brilliant idea to raise tadpoles as a summer project.

This is something I've wanted to do with my boys ever since I was a mom.  I remember my sister and I "saving" tadpoles that were in small, drying up pools of water when we were out camping at Goblin Valley when we were young.  We took tons of them home and ended up with 1 toad.  But it was a fun, educational experience and one that I'll never forget.  I've always wanted to share it with my kids.

So this year, after a few successes with caterpillars to butterflies under our belts, I felt confident that we could figure the "tadpole thing" out.  I jumped at the chance to grab some when my sister said she'd found some.

This is what my feet looked like when we were done.  Gross would be an understatement.  SO glad I didn't wear shoes....they would have been ruined.

And here are Kolton's feet.  Micah was smart enough to stay out of the mud.  I am sooo glad Kolton's shoes are black!

Here is a picture of what the tadpoles look like in the water.  Can you see them?  There is one on the bottom left, and one of the upper right.  They were tricky to find!

Kolton LOVED looking for the tadpoles.  He was busy the entire time.  Micah loved it too, but all he really did for the most part was splash around and celebrate catching rocks and weeds.  I did help him catch a couple, and he was pretty proud. 

 After he'd caught a couple tadpoles, he was content to feed Jonah's snack to the ducks....

...and himself.

Kolton didn't quite with the tadpoles. They were fast little buggers!  But he did finally catch one all by himself.  He was pretty excited about it.

We had to do a little more than we originally thought....my mom and I had some tadpole fatalities, but my sister didn't.  The only difference was that hers were in a tank.  So we went out and got a simple little setup and they are happy as can be for their "growing into frogs home".

Here they are up close, as of last week.  They have already grown so fast!  They are absolutely fascinating and so fun to watch.  We are headed to the library tomorrow to find books about tadpoles and frogs.

We have already talked to the boys about "giving back to nature" when we are done.  We will NOT be the owners of this many frogs, or any for that matter.  But I think that it's a magical experience watching any baby animal grow and develop.  This has been nothing short of magical for my boys so far.  We are excited to see how this unfolds, and we will share the progress of our little guests in some upcoming posts.

Wish us luck!