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Samford Community Kindergarten recently received a Woolworths Junior Landcare Grant. Junior Landcare grants help to provide opportunities for children across Australia to get hands-on with nature and to take an active role in caring for local environments

The aim of our project is to give the Laughing Tree Frogs, currently hiding in our outdoor play area, a safe place to live, reproduce and thrive in. We made two friendly frog habitats, also known as Frog Hotels, in our garden. Our Grants Officer has cleverly dubbed these – Hotel De SCK and The Amphibi-Inn.

The Children began the project by exploring different ideas about living things, their basic needs and how we can help to protect and care for them here at Samford Kindy.

They discovered that a suitable habitat for the Laughing Tree Frogs would need food, water to lay eggs in and swim in, and somewhere to hide in. A design was chosen and construction began!

For our two Frog Hotels, we needed two very large pots that would hold water. PVC piping in various widths was cut into different lengths by the children using handsaws. The Tree Frogs can climb the pipes and also hide safely inside.

Next, children helped carry buckets of gravel and rocks which were poured into the large pot. The gravel helps to hold up the pipes in a vertical position and creates a flat surface for larger rocks and plants.

Native Water Plants were carefully arranged in the pot and then the pot was filled with water. Frogs prefer a damp environment, so the water levels will be checked and maintained. We will also be including solar garden lights in our Frog Hotels to attract bugs at night.

This hands-on learning project provided opportunities for our Kindy children to take an active role in caring for local biodiversity and develop respect for the environment and a connection to Country.

We look forward to watching and listening for signs that the Laughing Tree Frogs have found a safe place to live in their Hotels!

Words by Jessica Lane. This article originally appeared in The Village Pump, 4 August 2023.

Do you have a Junior Landcare activity idea you’d like to share? Submit your idea here or email enquiries@landcareaustralia.comau for a chance to win a $100 Woolworths Gift Card and for your idea to be featured in the Junior Landcare newsletter. *