Toad love

‘Hallo, my name is Faith, my first toad’s name is Abongwe, and the other one is Bukees. I’ve shown the whole life cycle with Bukees, from the egg, the tadpole, and growing legs, until his out and I’ve put some flowers with some insects, and a bright sun, and also the water with some fish inside, and by Abongwe we have some flies, clouds, a bright beautiful sun and also some insects and flowers.’

Faith was one of 84 learners from five primary schools who took part in our boats and toads project in November. The project, which was sponsored by the National Lotteries Commission, aims to generate excitement and passion amongst local school learners for the critically endangered Western Leopard Toad.
The Western Leopard Toad breeds at Princess Vlei every year, and migrates into surrounding communities between breeding seasons. Teaching learners about these creatures helps to promote community awareness and to safeguard the toads when they move into residential areas.
The program began with a field trip to Princess Vlei. Learners were given basic information about the toads, and went out with our volunteers and staff to do their own exploration of the creatures of Princess Vlei. Their mission was to ascertain whether Princess Vei has everything a toad needs in its habitat, and to asses threats, and breeding and foraging opportunities, for the toads.

Armed with nets and specimen tanks, the learners set off. They were excited to discover some thumbnail sized tiny toadlets. They also found tadpoles in various stages of development, juvenile fish, dragon flies and other insects, and shiny land crabs. While some learners were exploring the Princess Vlei aquatic and terrestrial life, others were experiencing the vlei from the water. Gravity Adventures were there with canoes to give the kids an adventurous but safe encounter with the water. A brisk wind on both days of the field trip made experience this even more exciting.
The field trip was followed by an art experience at two schools to enable learners to consolidate what they had learnt from their observations. Although the wind had prevented them from filling in worksheets during the field trip, our young natural scientists had absorbed the information. A question and answer session at the beginning of the art process confirmed that they knew about the toad’s life cycle and knew what toads needed in their habitat to breed and flourish.

The learners  created clay toads, and painted plates with a suitable habitat for the toads to live in. Many learners brought an extra flair to the task. Some, like Faith, created toads at different stages of development. One particularly creative learner, Rixario, created a hollow rock next to his toad, and hid another tiny toad beneath it.
The learner’s pride and enthusiasm was clearly displayed in the videos where they were asked to introduce their toads and explain what they had put in their habitat. All learners were delighted to do this, even those who, according to teachers, are reticent to speak in class.
This annual event is hugely popular with learners - this year we ran two groups to enable more learners to attend. It is truly holistic education, designed to stimulate all aspects of their intelligence: sensory perception, physical confidence and co-ordination, creativity, deductive reasoning, problem solving, observation and story telling among others. We are confident that these learners will hold a special place in their hearts for the Western Leopard Toads.
     A huge thanks to the National Lotteries Commission for funding this project, to Hillwood, Levana, Rosmead, Harmony, and Floreat Primary and their staff for participating, and to the fabulous guides from Gravity Adventures.