Take a walk around the pond with the preschoolers. Hold up a piece of colored paper, say the color's name, prompt the students to echo the color and ask the students to find something at the pond that is the same color. After the students have had time to find an item, gather them together in a huddle. Talk about the items the students have found. Discuss where the item was found, the name of the item, other items that are similar to this one and their appearance.
At the pond, ask students to employ their senses. Find a herb or plant with a powerful smell around the pond -- for example, mint or wild onion. Pass the plant around for the kids to smell. Ask them to sit still for one minute to notice what they hear. Name the things that they can hear at the pond, such as a frog or a buzzing bumblebee. Place a hula hoop on the ground next to the pond for each pair of students. Ask them to draw what they see in the hula hoop. They might see some bugs, weeds and maybe even a worm. Let the children feel the different textures of the plants around the pond. The pussy willows and duckweed will provide a big contrast. Mint, wild onion, honeysuckle or wild blackberries might be found around the pond. Let the kids taste whatever edible items found at or around the pond.
Bring to class a gallon jug of pond water or gather a jug-full if you are at the pond. In a small group, ask the students to help you describe the water. Prompt them to name the color and smell and to find items floating in the water. Let them look at the pond water in a water microscope. See if they can find any living organisms in the water.
On an interactive whiteboard, show a variety of animals and plants that live at the pond. Have students place them at a pond scene on the board. Read "In the Small, Small Pond" by Denise Fleming and "Pond Circle" by Betsy Franco to give students more background knowledge prior to this activity.