Grow As We Go

All living things grow and change in their lifetime.  Some animals, people included, start off life looking the same as or very similar to adults.  Other animals look very different from the adults when they are young and change significantly over the course of their lifetime.  Frogs and butterflies are examples of animals that change, or metamorphosis, during their life. 

For this activity have children and educators bring in a picture of themselves as a baby and as they look now.  Gather pictures of baby and adult animals - include animals that have young that look similar to adults, and animals that have young that look different than the adults. 

Lay the pictures of people out on a table and as a class guess which baby pictures go with each person.  Ask: In what way do babies and adults look different?  The same?  Was it hard to match baby pictures to children/adults?  Why or why not?  How do our bodies change as we grow?

Share the animal and baby pictures of familiar animals that do not change much over their lifetime such as dogs and cats.  Match up the babies with the adults.  Ask: Has anyone watched a pet grow from a baby into an adult?  How do these animals change as they grow?

Now share the pictures of animals that change significantly from baby to adult.  Try to match up the baby pictures with the adult pictures.  Ask: Was it harder or easier to match these animals? Why or why not? How do these animals change as they grow?  Go over the life cycle of a frog, butterfly or similar animal. Show pictures of how the animals change, you may introduce the names of the animal stages such as tadpole, caterpillar etc...Give each child a picture of a stage of an animal and have them find their matches with each other.  Have them share with the class what they are and if they are a baby or an adult.

Take a walk outside to look for baby and adult animals.  When you find an animal have the children decide if it’s a baby or an adult.  Did you find more babies or more adults? What did the children notice about the animals that you found?

If possible, raise a small animal(s) from a baby to an adult in your classroom.  Tadpoles or caterpillars can be obtained from nature supply stores.  Or borrow an incubator and hatch chicken or duck eggs.

For more information and for snack and craft ideas use Growing Up WILD’s “Grow As We Go” activity!

Book List

Anderson, H.C. 1999. The Ugly Duckling. HarperCollins Publishers.

Arnosky, J. 2002. All About Frogs. Scholastic, Inc.

Boring, M. and L. Garrow. 1999. Caterpillars, Bugs, and Butterflies. NorthWord Books for Young Readers.

Carle, E. 1994. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Penguin Group (USA).

Coleman, G. and T. Gibbons. 1997. Butterflies. Gareth Stevens Publishing.

Fisher, A. 2001. You Don’t Look Like Your Mother (Bowmar Nature Series). Economics Pr.

Goor, R. and N. Goor. 1990. Insect Metamorphosis: From Egg to Adult. Simon & Scuster Children’s Publishing.

Heiligman, D. and B. Weissman. 1996. From Caterpillar to Butterfly. HarperCollins Publishers.

Kalman, B. 2007. Animals Grow and Change. Crabtree Publishing.

Kalman, B. 2008. Animal Life Cycles: Growing and Changing. Crabtree Publishing.

Kottke, J. 2000. From Egg to Robin. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Lionni, L. 1998. An Extraordinary Egg. Dragonfly Books.

Lionni, L. 1974. Fish is Fish. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Marzollo, J. and N. Sheehan. 1998. How Kids Grow. Scholastic, Inc.

Moignot, D. 1998. Frogs: A First Discovery Book. Moonlight Publishing.

Nelson, R. 2003. From Egg to Chicken. Lerner Publishing Group.

Pfeffer, W. and H. Keller. 1994. From Tadpole to Frog. HarperCollins Publishers.

Wallace, K. 2000. DK Readers: Wild Baby Animals (Level 1: Beginning to Read). DK Publishing, Inc.

Waring, G. 2007. Oscar and the Frog: A Book About Growing. Candlewick Press.