A Hoppy Home: Senior-Kindergarteners Build Toad-ally Creative Habitats

What do you get when you combine moss, sticks, polka dots, clay, a little bit of glitter, and a lot of love? 

A magical amphibian habitat that is toad-ally awesome! 

Senior kindergarten students used their imagination with this ordinary mix of items to create something truly extraordinary: Toad Abodes!

This fall, senior kindergarten students learned about life cycles in science class with Mrs. Carrie Ruhland and studied artist Yaoyoi Kusama in art class with Mrs. Lauren Cannon. Seeing a unique opportunity for collaboration, Mrs. Ruhland and Mrs. Cannon teamed up to create the Toad Abode project—an immersive, interdisciplinary experience where senior-kindergarten students designed an enchanting habitat for three live toads, complete with handcrafted clay “Toad Abodes.”

Mrs. Ruhland taught the girls about frog and toad life cycles by bringing in live tadpoles, models, and pictures to illustrate metamorphosis, while also exploring the differences between frogs and toads through the creation of large-scale models painted with the correct colors and markings for each species. Mrs. Ruhland took the girls on a nature walk to gather materials for the habitat’s furnishings before passing the project to Mrs. Cannon for the next creative phase.

In art class, students channeled their creativity and design skills to transform natural materials collected on their walk—like tree bark, moss, and leaves—into toad-friendly comforts, including a swimming pool with a slide and diving board, hammocks, seesaws, swings, and more.

“I loved seeing how much empathy went into the girls' thought processes when deciding what weary, traveling toads would like to find once they arrived in their new neighborhood,” said Mrs. Cannon. “Their desire for the toads to feel welcome, happy, and comfortable reflects well on our mission here.” 

These thoughtful furnishings were just the start of the students’ creative expression in this project. The pièce de résistance of the habitat was their Toad Abodes, inspired by Yayoi Kusama, the “Princess of Polka Dots.” Using complementary—or as Mrs. Cannon calls them, “best friend”—colors, the students decorated the clay houses in vibrant polka dots, adding a joyful touch to the habitat. “We decided Yayoi would love things like ladybugs, toadstools, and spotted, speckled frogs and toads,” Mrs. Cannon recalled.

By incorporating artistic skills, students forged a meaningful connection to the scientific knowledge they gained about toads, enriching their understanding of both subjects through this integrated curriculum.

Mrs. Ruhland reinforces the value of interdisciplinary subjects to her girls, telling them, “You can’t have art without science or science without art. They are like BFFs in the world, the ultimate chocolate and vanilla swirl.” 

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, students introduced their three toads to a thoughtfully crafted habitat, with guidance from Violet Renken ’25, who recently conducted amphibian research at the Memphis Zoo as part of her Honors Independent Research Study project. Our girls were filled with a sense of joy and pride in their creations, gaining a deeper understanding of what it means to be thoughtful of all living creatures.

“Our girls were able to work in unity to create community for others,” said Mrs. Cannon. “Creating worlds real or fantastical helps us understand our relationships with those around us.”

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by St. Mary's Episcopal School (@stmarysepiscopalschool)