Izzy the Frog follows the Sunset Around the World

Children ages explored the life of frogs from around the world. A variety of world cultures over time offered accompanying stories ranging from biological facts of the life cycle and ecological endangerment of frogs to cultural myths. The cultural myths tell the story of how we, as humans, interact with and are part of the natural world and how each component of the earth is dependent on each other for the health and welfare of the global ecology. Each story ended with the frog's relationship to the environment in which it lives through its response and observation of the sunset. Jamie Burnett recorded a Native America myth that was accompanied by frog/musical sounds by Istvan Peter B'Racz.

Workbooks accompaned the experience for participants and the children had the opportunity to color in varies varieties of frogs discovering the wonderful variety of colors and the ecological stories behind the variations of frogs from around the world. Workbooks include both biological stories of frogs from each country as well as a frog myth from that culture. The children were invited to create their own frog myths about the native frog of the New Haven area. Frogs have represented transformation in many cultures and this will be displayed in a panorama of the life cycle of frogs from pollywogs to adults.

Issy's tent will had a display of frogs and pollywogs, the panorama of the life cycle of frogs from egg to adult, images from various frog myths from around the world, and recorded sounds of a variety of frogs and toads.

Children made frog masks and went away happily croaking.

Catch the Light and Take a Rainbow Home in Your Pocket - Families explored new ways of seeing the world by exploring the variety of wonders that light reveals through its spectral content, its ability to turn corners by reflection and to bend when passing through another substance. Did you know that by cross polarizing light darkness is created? Light creates it's own darkness…curious! Put on your spectral glasses and see rainbows all around you.

(Left) Play with light and how light makes color on soap bubbles to light color mixing. Children's Programming for International Festival of Arts & Ideas.