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What is a spring peeper? To me, it’s a beautiful, much-longed-for, sign of spring.

What is a spring peeper?

A spring peeper is a small frog with a voluminous voice. Northern spring peepers live in the eastern United States up into Canada, while southern spring peepers range from Texas, to Florida, to Georgia. Somehow my whole mid-Atlantic life, before my family relocated to New England a few years ago, I never befriended these little guys or heard their beautiful melodies.

Maybe I didn’t live close enough to a marsh. (They do need access to a pond or swampy area for their tadpoles to prosper.) Maybe the sounds of traffic and suburban life drowned out their chorus. Or maybe I was just too busy to notice.

I was curious to know if indeed spring peepers live in my native state of Delaware, and in my research I stumbled across this resource of double-sided, printable ID cards about Delaware reptiles and amphibians that is too good not to share. Of course many of these creatures may live in your state too.

When we moved to our New England homestead in the spring, I kept thinking how loud and early the crickets were here. Early in the season, as well as early in the daytime, not waiting until evening to get boisterous. Then when my daughter spied an adorable little frog, and we excitedly learned about him, we discovered the true source of our serenade.

What can you do when your child discovers a new critter?

If you too find a few creatures in your yard–or at the park, or even in a parking lot at the grocery store–that you and your children would like to know more about, I have some painless suggestions to help you learn more about the creatures, use the experience to get your children almost effortlessly excited about science, and even create an amazing family heirloom in the process!

There are 3 simple steps to get kids excited about nature study.

1. Learn about your backyard creatures.
2. Use your discoveries to get kids excited about science.
3. Create an amazing family heirloom in the process.

Don’t wait.

One thing I’ve learned the hard way over the years? Truth be told, there must be one million and twenty things I’ve learned the hard way over the years. But when it comes to my child’s education, I’d have to say that one of the most important things I’ve discovered is actually pretty simple. To encourage a love of learning, parents need to help their child investigate the topics the child is naturally curious about. WHEN they’re curious about it.

For our family, this often meant we would research a particular water bird we’d spotted at the local pond, as soon as we got home after after our walk; or use our bird ID books to figure out what bird it was that one daughter just got a picture of in the tree outside her window; or scour spider ID web sites after witnessing the coolest web builder ever on a fence near our house.

Did that mean some days math lessons never got done? Absolutely. Did it mean we often never finished a full year’s worth of mom’s plans? No doubt. But today I have four daughters who not only love learning, but also know how to learn. A few missed math lessons or a little less penmanship work was worth the sacrifice.

Learn about your backyard creatures.

For our unidentified tiny frog that spring morning many years ago, we went to this great amphibian and reptile ID site called Froglife. Once we figured out my daughter was holding a spring peeper, we researched more online and in some of our favorite ID books we keep on a handy shelf at all times. (Scroll to the bottom if you’d like to see a list of our all-time favorites.)

Then one daughter pulled up a blank Backyard Book page, inserted a picture of the spring peeper (if we don’t take our own, we copy and paste one we like from google images), and printed it out. A few others started filling in the cool info we were learning, while it was fresh in our minds, and we all had some fun frog facts to fill Dad’s head with over dinner that night. Not to mention one more page to add to our book that is hands-down one of the most treasured in our home: Our Backyard Book.

So after we completed a Backyard Book page about our cute little peeper, I finally understood that the sleigh-bell-like “cricket” crescendo I was enjoying every day was, indeed, not crickets at all.

Use their discoveries to get kids excited about science.

We also learned that the scientific name for the froggie Casanovas of our marsh is Pseudacris crucifer. As a Language-Arts-kinda-girl, I never miss a chance at word root study, so the scientific name is always the first thing listed on our Backyard Book page.

For lots of ideas about getting kids (and yourself) excited about natural science when you’re a Languare-Arts-Kinda-Girl, hop over to my article on ProverbialHomemaker.

When you break down the peeper’s Greek-and-Latin-mix of a name–Pseudacris crucifer–it makes perfect sense. If you know that pseudo means “false” and crucis means “cross,” you have a pretty good idea of what’s on the back of every spring peeper. When my daughter discovered this itty baby peeper, sure enough, we were able to identify it by its markings.

Create an amazing family heirloom in the process.

The best way, ultimately, to get kids excited about science is to show them it’s practical, fascinating, and important. Creating our Backyard Book has certainly had all those effects on our family, and more.

. . . When they go back to it months, or even years, later to remind themselves about a creepy crawly they rediscover, they realize how practical it was to document what they learned in the past.

. . . When they flip through it for fun once in a while they are fascinated anew at the amazing facts they’ve learned over the years, right in a small square footage around their home.

. . . And when they pull it out to show a friend, who ooohhhs and aaahhhs and flips through every page, they realize how esteemed and truly important their hard work is.

Of course your family doesn’t have to limit this idea to a small area around your home. You can call your nature keepsake book “our nature discoveries,” and add to it whenever you discover a critter in a playground or parking lot, take a natural science field trip, or visit their great aunt in the country.

We have sections in our Backyard Book about insects, trees, flowers, garden plants, birds, mammals, and of course amphibians.

Our family’s Backyard Book has been an heirloom in the making for almost two decades now. It’s helped improve my daughters’ penmanship, interest in Latin roots, knowledge of botany, love for science, skills for organizing, willingness to touch all things slimy, abilities in art and photography, and, most importantly, desire and love for learning.

What else did we learn about spring peepers?

Along with its name-sake “x” on its back, the main identifying characteristic of a spring peeper is its song. Some say a chorus of spring peepers sounds like sleigh bells. But I think it sounds more like crickets. Plus, once our long winter finally thaws I’m elated that the frogs’ serenades are ushering in a much-welcomed spring. Needless to say, I’m not thinking about sleigh bells.

I recorded a little video about our spring peepers (click my link or see below), but you may not hear their chorus very distinctly. So you can also check out the NH state wildlife page where their song is recorded.

Like me, spring peepers probably don’t wanna think about winter any more either, since they were just almost entirely frozen during the long cold months. Turns out spring peepers can withstand a deep freeze during winter.

While most other frog species bury themselves deep under leaf cover for insulation from Jack Frost, spring peepers are one of only 5 species of frogs who face brutal winter temperatures in a different way. You see, they’re built with a natural ‘antifreeze’ in their blood. (Okay, it’s actually glucose, urea, and proteins. At least that’s what scientists think, but no one is sure how it all works… except for the frogs’ creator of course.)

Their distinguishing scientific name, the fact that they are frozen—but alive—all winter, and lots of other fascinating facts about spring peepers made it onto their page in our family’s Backyard Book. If you’d like to download and print amphibian ID pages of your own, just provide your email in the box at the end of this post. I’ve included many themed ID pages, as well as my popular ebooklet–5 Things You Should Know About Nature Study–in my subscriber library, which I am continually adding to as well. I’ll send you your personal password to the library right away, when you sign up below.

If your family decides to take on the exciting learning experience of creating your own Backyard Book, feel free to use the resources in my subscriber library, and by all means make sure to enjoy the journey because, as Thoreau pointed out, “The voice of nature is always encouraging.”

Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

 

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To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

Our favorite Nature Study books that are on a special shelf in our home:

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I’m learning to enjoy a lot of things these days that are… well… pretty unenjoyable.

Cow patties, for example.

They smell awful.

But the lady who produces them–Scout, our sweet dairy cow–also produces wonderful milk, which in turn helps me produce some amazing ice cream. So I’ve learned to enjoy cleaning out her stall. To be totally up front, though, Scout belongs to my 15-year-old farmer, Kayla, who saved up for Scout, and her hay, and her fencing, since she was 9. So I honestly don’t do the bulk of the cow-pattie removal. That of course also makes it more enjoyable for me. (If you’d like to meet Kayla and all of her farm animals, plus get a little insight into her entrepreneurial spirit that helps run our homestead, take a peek at Kayla’s endeavors here.)

So studying slimy amphibians is a walk in the park after doing the hard work around a farm. But this whole homesteading life is still new.

So it’s still an exhilarating sensation to me (aka a born-and-bred suburban girl) to slowly pull giant, two-story-tall doors across their squeaky track. It’s an amazing thing (at least to a mid-atlantic, grew-up-in-a-chain-linked-fenced-tiny-yarded-development kinda girl) to say “I… Own… A Barn.”

But last month, while closing those difficult doors, I had an extra treat. I was serenaded with a soothing song. The spring peepers were back in our neck of the woods, and in actuality of course the males weren’t singing to me, but to the females, doing their best to attract one with all their melodious charm.

So over the next few days we pulled out some books (see my list here for our favorite you-can-hold-it-in-your-hand, real book resources for nature study), pursued some websites, and added a new page to Our Backyard Book—a treasured homeschool heirloom that I’ve written about many times before.

If you have an aversion to “slimy things,” Mom, you really need to read my post that Tauna asked me to share on Proverbial Homemaker today. If you still believe that old wives tale about getting warts from frogs, trust me, you’re safe. If, on the other hand, you think kissing a toad will turn your husband into prince charming, well, I can’t help you with that one.

But I can help you with:

5 reasons you really should study amphibians, slimy or not…

3 simple steps to start your study today…

8 of my family’s favorite nature study books, and

my FREE, printable amphibian ID page that you can enjoy completing with a child who would like to learn about slimy amphibians… in fact, I bet you’ll wind up enjoying it too.

So take a second to peruse my amphibian-affiliated musings as a contributing writer over on Proverbial Homemaker today. I’m gonna go clean a cow’s stall now… and enjoy it.

Meanwhile, if you and a child or grandchild try out my FREE printable amphibian ID page please let me know some slimy facts you enjoy learning together!

The post How to Enjoy Learning About Slimy Amphibians first appeared on Souly Rested.

A child will be mesmerized by creation for a lifetime if they are immersed in nature investigations at a young age. She, 15 short years ago, became entranced by a caterpillar inching its way along our patio. By the age of three, she had a butterfly-themed birthday and become an expert at correctly netting butterflies, caring for them long enough to name and ID them, then set them free.

Whenever she discovered beautiful wings in a field or parking lot, she would identify and learn all about the moth or butterfly they had belonged to, and we would preserve what she had learned in Our Backyard Book.

She went on to love reading about all things nature. Non-fiction books about anything nature were always her favorites, knowing the nature section at the library and reading every easy reader they had on shelf about insects, birds, and all things ocean.

Today, she longs to become a Marine Mammalogist. And she still thrills at capturing tadpoles to care for and watch them loose their tails, gain their legs and lungs, and explore creation as a new creature. To the point that it seemed completely natural to her to walk out of church one summer Sunday, walk to the pond with the elementary kids, and show them the right way to catch a tadpole. After parents had beckoned young ones, after the parking lot was empty, she was still at pond’s edge. Investigating. Admiring. Worshipping the Creator in the same wonderful way she has since toddler days.

Worshipping Him by simply enjoying His creation.

Over the past decade, I’ve helped my daughters keep Our Backyard Book, fostering their desire to know their Creator more intimately by admiring His creation.

If you’d like, click on each link here to read more about my family’s experiences learning about: mammals, amphibians, birds, and nature studies in general.

 “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” Romans 1:20

I’d love to connect! To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) box below:

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Please take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested to catch up on a few of my memorable mishaps, enjoy musings about my centuries-old farmhouse, or glean a little parenting/homeschooling insight from this momma who’s been failing at the effort for almost 2 decades. I hope my focus always helps you Keep it Simple while being Souly Rested on Christ.

As soon as you subscribe, you can download a FREE copy of my popular ebooklet, 5 Things You Should Know About Nature Study, and you’ll have immediate access to multiple, printable ID pages to help you start a treasured Backyard Book with the kids.

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Why is my daughter writing about cookies?

My daughter scrawled across the top section of the paper: She is a female, because males only grow to 1.5.” She is 2.” 

Today’s subject of writing? Cookies. Not flour and gooey chocolate chips, but yellow thighs and rough gray spots, her beloved, newest ectothermic friend.

The friendship began days ago… “I found Cookies in the outdoor shower… She was chilling out, because she is nocturnal.” 

Her hand quickly scribbles the details of her first encounter with the gray tree frog. Then she clicks through the tabs open on the computer in front of her, making sure she has her fact correct before thoughtfully writing a simile. “Her mating call sounds like a persistant bird’s song.” 

She pauses a few seconds to contemplate her strong adjective, but this isn’t writing class, so I don’t suggest a stronger verb or correct her spelling. (She doesn’t know it, but “persistent” has been added to her spelling list for the fall.) When the screen isn’t revealing the next particular detail she is looking for, she flips through the bookmarked pages of the nearby book, beside her breakfast of generously buttered raisin toast.

I read along and warm my hands on my tea cup, on the rather brisk New England morning, as the cool June breeze carries faint scents of honeysuckle when it silently dances through the kitchen door.

What’s this book my family loves so much?

She is eagerly writing the newest page in one of our family’s most valuable books.

It’s summertime, not a school morning, and this was her idea. She treasures this book and loves being an author for it. The book has been in the making for 13 years, and I hope to still be adding to it decades from now.

This eventual tome materialized one afternoon under a bright blue Delaware firmament, the year my oldest daughter, Logan, was in Kindergarten. The one who dissected bleeding heart blooms and dreamed of becoming a ballerina. The one who now builds portable nuclear detectors and is studying Mechanical Engineering. She’s the one who found a bizarre caterpillar in the fields beside the zoo. She had to know more. Its name. What it would become.

In the days before high-speed internet and fact-filled websites, my daughters and I paraded to five local libraries, scanned every insect ID book we could find, and finally discovered, quite to our chagrin, that the strikingly amazing larva would turn into a bland, brown White-marked Tussock Moth.

How did we put our Nature Studies book together?

We created a page about our findings and put it in a simple, white, plastic notebook. We figured there would be a few more insects to discover that spring, and maybe we’d pen a few more pages for our Nature Studies. Today, my two youngest are still eagerly adding to our cherished book, in a new backyard, under crystal New Hampshire skies.

The book’s cover—boldly announcing “Our Backyard”— is a faded chalk drawing of the path in our yard of yesteryears, in Logan’s Kindergarten days, in her Kindergarten style.

We never thought this notebook would take on a life of its own. Truly, I had no idea Nature Studies would be such a treasured activity that would become so important to our family.

If we had known our Backyard Book would still be a living book, 13 years after its conception, we wouldn’t have salvaged old office dividers, rewriting our titles over the pre-printed ones. We wouldn’t have squeezed all our extra categories under our fifth tab, but added new tabs with care.

But  I will never alter it. Truly, I adore my youngest’s first page about the dandelion, completed almost a decade ago.

Some things we learned today about gray tree frogs?

In captivity, they can live more than 8 years.

They change colors, ranging from bright green to pale white, to dark brown, depending on the temperature, humidity, and light. (But they are, as their name alludes to, typically gray.)

They eat (among other things) crickets and mealworms (thus, we’re reading Pet Bugs–see below–which has chapters on raising both).

A large, female gray tree frog can eat pinkie mice!

If you like the idea of a Backyard Book, or if you’d just like some free resources to help you get started on this idea of Nature Studies, you’ll love my book, 5 Things You Should Know About Nature Study.

Sign up here and download it right away. You’ll also enjoy instant access to my complete Resource Library, including multiple ID pages to help you start your own heirloom Backyard Book today!

Was today’s page, the one about our chameleon-like frog, imperfect, with grammatical errors? Yep. But it shows, quite obviously that my daughters long to know more about our amazing, creative God–through His fingerprints that are ingrained in His beautifully artistic creation. It is obvious despite our worn, disorganized, hand-me-down, and mistake-laden pages. Just like He is obvious despite–no because of–our own failures from day to day. We so often mess up, even when we think we’re doing a good thing. Yet once in a while, amidst our errors, we wind up making something amazing that just may be priceless for eternity.

That’s when God’s providence and love is the most beautiful. Amidst our imperfections.

We put away our efforts and clean up our breakfast dishes, and she opens the front door, to let the warm sun stream in the front hall. Then, with her discovery there, a new page begins*…

“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator.” –Louis Pasteur

Nature Study Books We Love

For nature study anywhere in the U.S., I highly recommend ANY National Audubon Society field guide. Find the ones you’d enjoy for your part of the country. If you’re in New England, my favorite recommendation for all things nature study is Naturally Curious, by Mary Holland, but that is very specific to the New England region.

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Products we love for Nature Journaling or adding to our Backyard Book

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* If you’re dying to know, before I get around to writing an entry about the beautiful “pink-lemonade” moth (as my daughter aptly dubbed it), it’s a rosy maple moth. More to come about that beauty on another day.

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Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera on my Resources page and even purchase your own here.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

 

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every weekly-ish email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

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