Two frogs, two froglets and a tadpole.

Several weeks ago, my husband brought home some tadpoles that he had collect from a puddle at our neighbors house. They were really tiny, the heads probably measured about 1/8 inch, and they were less than an inch long. We set up our 10 gallon aquarium, filled it with a couple inches of creek water, and some creek 'muck' leaf matter etc. So the tadpoles had something to eat and places to hide.

The kids have been fascinated watching the tadpoles transform into frogs. They both check them daily and report any changes they notice. We also read about it in the book Watch Me Grow Frog, so they can understand the process the tadpoles are going through.

This was taken on April 16th. Here are three of our tadpoles they are about 1 inch long. We thought we only had 4 tadpoles, and then were surprised to find tadpole number five!

This is from may 4th. Our tadpoles are growing quickly! i am now about 1 1/2" long.

On May 12th, we have started to grow back legs!! These first appear as little leg buds, and then slowly develop into large back legs.

By May 25th, they have arms and legs. Their tails are slowly disappearing, skin has grown over their gills and they now have lungs! We watch them come to the surface of the water to breath.

May 29, this guy is now a froglet. He has arms, legs a tail and lungs! He tail is getting smaller and smaller everyday.


Today, May 31 we have two frogs, two froglets and one tadpole with back legs.


The frogs have been climbing the glass in the aquarium, so we'll be taking them to the creek to release later this afternoon. They are only about 1 inch long. It is always a fun and rewarding experience to raise and release tadpoles. Anytime we play at the creek and see a frog we wonder if it may have been one that we raised.

Here is a really fun Tadpole Puppet printable you can print up from Scholastic to show how tadpoles transform into frogs through metamorphosis.

Here is another good printable that shows the life cycle of the frog.