Pollywogs in a Bog – Our Multisensory Learning Experience

I use this pollywog story as an example of how you can make any learning experience a multisensory one.  The inspiration can come from a song, book, painting, or idea that your child comes up with.  If you pay attention your child will tell you, so follow her interests!  It may take some time and a bit of effort on your part, but you can create a fun experience that will be informative and rewarding for your child.  You might even find yourself having fun too!

The Great Pollywog Hunter!

When my daughter was 2 ½ years old, she frequently listened to a favorite song about pollywogs (a.k.a. tadpoles).  We’ve talked about caterpillars changing into butterflies, but I wanted to show her that tadpoles also go through metamorphosis and change into frogs.  So I found some video of tadpoles changing into frogs online and she enjoyed that.  We learned that the back legs form first, then the front arms, and finally the tail shrinks away.  We created some art showing the process by drawing and using play dough.  Then I remembered that when it rains, our water retention pond becomes a very loud orchestra of frog noises.  So after the next good downpour we went out and caught some tadpoles.  My daughter had on her ladybug rain boots and a small net, and had an absolute ball being a pollywog hunter!  We put them in an old jar and while she watched them swim around, I got online to research how to care for tadpoles.  After a couple weeks we were rewarded by watching the entire metamorphosis from tadpoles into frogs right before our eyes!

Now if you go back and look at this from a learning perspective you will see how it was a multisensory learning experience.  We:

• Listened to the pollywog song repeatedly upon her request (you parents know what I mean!) – auditory
• Watched videos online – visual
• Drew and used play dough to show metamorphosis – kinesthetic and visual
• Caught pollywogs outside, raised them, and released them – kinesthetic and visual

It is now almost a year later and she still is able to remember the process of how a tadpole changes into a frog.  And every time we pass a water retention area with some water in it she says, “Mama, that’s pollywog water!”

For those wondering what to feed pollywogs, I took fresh spinach leaves and blended them with a tiny amount of water.  I kept the mix in a container in the refrigerator, only making small batches to last about 2 days at most so it didn’t go bad.   You can also use any type of lettuce leaves…spinach leaves were just the only thing I had at the time.  I started with a teaspoon of mix and put it in the water with the pollywogs.  Just watch the pollywogs to see how much they eat and add more if needed, especially as they get larger.  Also, initially the pollywogs only need water in the container but once their legs and arms start growing make sure there is a way for them to get out of the water onto land.  I placed a landscaping block in the container with pebbles (like that used in fish tanks) leading up to the block so they could easily climb out and start breathing air. Good luck and have fun!