Frog and Toad Are Friends – Lesson Plan and Activities

Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel was published in 1970. It has been a favorite easy-to-read children’s title ever since.  This book provides wonderful opportunities for learning about not only about friendship but also science topics like seasons and amphibians, language arts lessons in story-telling and letter writing, and even the practical skill of learning to sew on a button! Below are some ideas to explore and a list of resources, a vocabulary worksheet, and a comprehension quiz. This Frog and Toad Are Friends lesson plan and activity ideas can be used in the classroom or at home with your children to enhance their learning experience with this wonderful book!

Frog and Toad Are Friends – Lesson Plan

Ideas to Explore:

Friendship

Use this book to teach about the qualities of a good friend.  As you read the story to your students, have them list the good friendship qualities that these two share (doing things together, helping each other, listening, comforting, entertaining, communicating, etc.).  Friendship bracelets are a fun activity to go along with this topic. 

Science – choose one or more topics:

• Seasons – This story opens with the start of spring.   Talk about when spring officially begins and what the signs of spring are.  If you have a globe, use it and a flashlight to represent the sun.  Have one student be the sun, and walk around the “sun” with the globe.  Explain how the earth tilts toward the sun during spring and summer and away from the sun in fall and winter.  This is a good way to teach days (how long it takes for the earth to spin around once) and years (how long it takes you to travel all the way around the “sun”).  Have the students draw four pictures to illustrate what goes on in each season. We also have seasons activity pages you can use!

• Amphibians – Discuss the differences between amphibians and reptiles (Frog and Toad are both amphibians).  Then discuss the differences between frogs and toads (one of the most notable differences is skin texture and the fact that frogs spend more time in the water).  Make a Venn diagram to illustrate the similarities and differences.  Note how the author alludes to the fact that toads spend less time in the water by having Toad wear a bathing suit. We have several great frog crafts in our Leap Year activities unit!

• Hibernation – In the first chapter of the book, Toad is hibernating, but Frog is up and ready to go.  In fact, both toads and frogs hibernate.  Frogs hibernate in the water, and toads hibernate in burrows.  Discuss hibernation and what animals hibernate. 

Mathematics

Frog and Toad Are Friends has a great chapter when Frog goes hunting for a missing button.  This is a great opportunity to introduce classification.  Buttons can be classified by size, shape, number of holes, color, style, etc.  If you have a large supply of a variety of buttons you can practice classification, make graphs showing the different kinds, etc. 

Life Skills & Art

One of life’s little survival skills involves knowing how to do simple sewing.  It may be a little difficult for some students, but if their fine motor skills allow, teach them how to thread a needle, sew on a button and tie a knot.  More artistic types might enjoy creating a design with their buttons. 

Language Arts – choose one or more topics

• Telling a story – Talk about what makes a good story and practice making up a story as a class.  Talk about all the ways Toad tried to think up a story.  Does this work for him?  Let your students know that even seasoned writers have “writer’s block” sometimes when they just cannot think of a good story. 

• Writing a letter – In this day of e-mail, Frog and Toad Are Friends has an example of true “snail mail.”  Explain what is meant by this term.  Have your students write a letter to a friend, and teach them the proper way to address an envelope.  Talk about the different ways we communicate today including e-mail, phone calls, and texting. 

You might also like this lesson plan with worksheets on James and the Giant Peach!

Resources:

How to make a friendship bracelet

All about frogs for kids and teachers

Bullfrogs:  Natural History Notebook

What’s the difference between frogs and toads?

How do frogs survive winter?

Hibernation in frogs and toads

More Frog and Toad Books:

Frog And Toad Together (Newberry Honor Book)

Days With Frog and Toad