I love introducing 5-year-olds to the characteristics of a freshwater pond. It essential that they realize there is more to a vernal pond than just the plants and animals they might notice at first sight, like ducks or frogs. Therefore, a large part of the field trip to the pond that I used to take included scooping the pond water for the unseeable! The children were in awe of the “bugs” we poured out into observable clear containers.

Below is a video we made at a vernal pond.