In an activity suggested on the Kids Soup website, have kids make their own pond. Place a deep baking dish inside a pizza box and fill the area around the baking dish, which represents the pond, with sand. Add dirt to the bottom of the baking dish and fill it with water. Have the kids add cut-out foam lily pads to the pond as well as a variety of plastic pond animals, such as fish, bugs, plants and turtles. They will love making and exploring their own pond.
Kids can make a turtle model using a paper bowl, brown construction paper, markers, green paint and a stapler. Turn the paper bowl upside down and paint the outside green to represent the turtle's shell. While it dries, assist the children in cutting out four legs and a head from brown construction paper. Once they have added a face to the turtle head using a marker, staple the construction paper legs and head to the dry paper bowl to finish the turtle model.
Making bobbing frogs, an activity suggested on the Preschool Education website, is entertaining to children and requires few supplies. Have the kids paint or color corks, which represent the bodies of the frogs, so that they are completely green. Wrap two pipe cleaners around the center of each cork, bending them to resemble legs. These bobbing frogs can then be used with the pond craft from Section 1 or with a basic container of water to demonstrate how frogs stay afloat.
This messy craft listed on the Preschool Education website requires blue construction paper, washable brown and green paint and plastic pond animals and plants, such as fish, turtles and fake grass. Pour the paints into shallow containers and have the children dip the plastic pond items into the paints and make prints on the blue construction paper. Once the pond life painting is complete, older children may enjoy labeling the pond life.