Origami n' Stuff 4 Kids: Fascinating Frogs: Surinam Toad

Origami Folding Tips

Origami, from the Japanese ori (to fold) and kami (paper), began in the 6th century when Buddhist monks introduced paper to Japan. The print-and-fold crafts and easy diagrams are designed to help children with fine motor skills, directions and hand eye coordination. Some basic origami folding tips:

Print and cut out patterns carefully.
Fold with clean, dry hands.
Follow the instructions. Study the diagrams and be patient.
Be precise: fold each crease well, flattening the creases by running your fingertip over the fold.
Folding the paper away from you is easier than folding towards you.
Be creative...use your origami on greeting cards, holiday decorations, table place cards and bookmarks.

The Surinam toad is one nature's most unusual creatures. It's actually a frog, which spends its entire life cycle in tropical South American rivers and canals.

With its flattened body and triangular head, it can easily be mistaken for leafy debris while waiting patiently for a meal to swim by--unsuspecting fish, worms and bugs are sucked into its large mouth with surprising speed.

What makes them unique is their reproduction. After the female lays her pea-sized eggs, the male places them on her back and pushes them into her spongy skin. The eggs incubate as mom's new skin slowly develops and covers them, keeping them safe and out of sight.

Eventually the eggs hatch inside the skin pockets, and the babies develop through the tadpole stage. In 70 to 120 days, fully formed froglets pop out of mom's back!

Here's a video of a Surinam "toad" giving birth:

Origami n' Stuff 4 Kids

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