How to Hypnotize a Frog, a Tutorial - LOL (Plus Announcing the Giveaway Winner)

After reading the Lovely Blog Award post, quite a few people wanted to know more about hypnotizing frogs.  When Judy and Paulette jokingly suggested a tutorial, I thought "Why Not?"  ;)  

The Why and the How Behind Frog Hypnotism

Why would anyone want to hypnotize a frog?

Frog hypnotism is a fun activity to do, especially with children.  It gets everyone outside and enjoying nature.  It is a chance to explore and understand a frog's habitat, as well as to get a very close look at the frog.  It does no harm to the frog, as long as you are conscientious and respect life.     

How do you hypnotize a frog?

Needed:

• A delight in Mother Nature and the ability to not take yourself too seriously.
• A likely frog habitat: Frogs like wet areas and can be found in and around the edges of creeks, swamps, and ponds, and sometimes even in puddles.  

Tools:
If you aren't as nimble as an eight year old, then a fishing net sure comes in handy.

Instructions:  
Through each of these steps, be very gentle with the frog.

1. Go to a likely frog habitat and look for frogs.  When you locate some, catch yourself a frog.  It takes a little patience and the ability to hold still.  Wait for a frog to pop up near you and then swoop it up with either your hands or a net.  Children are especially good at catching frogs, perhaps because they have less distance to swoop.  If you are doing the frog catching yourself, be prepared for laughter and a slight-to-substantial loss of dignity.  
2. Hold the frog in one hand, tummy up.  Encircle the frog's chest with your thumb and fingers, just under the armpits and hold it firmly but without too much pressure.  
3. Pet the frog's tummy with your other fingertip, using a repetitive stroking motion from just under its chin to the bottom of its belly.  The frog will relax and go into a trance. 
4. You can get a good look at the frog now.  Frogs really are beautiful, even more so when you can examine them up close.
5. This last step is important:  Don't leave the frog in a trance when you are through.  It is too vulnerable in this state and could easily dry out or get caught by a predator.  After hypnotizing the frog, place it so that it is sitting somewhere safe and nudge it a bit until it comes out of its trance.  Make sure that it hops safely back to the water.      

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You can hypnotize a few other kinds of animals too.  Did you read Maryse's comment from my last post?  Here it is, in case you missed it.  I could just imagine it and practically fell out of my chair laughing:

Maryse5/28/15, 7:17 AM

It was really fun to read about you, Lara!
I sure got a kick out of reading you hypnotizing frogs ... I had to look this one up on youtube. My husband used to hypnotize his grandma's chickens, she almost had a stroke when she saw all her chickens laying on the ground. :-))

Later, Maryse explained that her husband did it by drawing a line on the ground with a stick.  The chicken watches this and goes into a trance.  She thought it might have something to do with their eyes being on the sides of their heads.    

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My family did not have a TV for most of my childhood.  I can clearly remember the wonder and excitement of going to our neighbor's home to watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) reach the moon in 1969.  We were country kids.  When we weren't in school or working, we were off like a shot on our banana seat bikes, having adventures in the woods and along the creeksides and ponds.  We invented our own fun.  

Were you an outdoorsy tomboy-ish sort of kid when you were young?  Or did you prefer tea sets and dolls and baking?  My children categorized their friends in two ways.  They called them "innies" and "outies".  This at first fooled me into thinking they were talking about belly buttons, but it really referred to where their friends liked to play.  

There is a lot to be said for getting children away from the television and video games and into the fresh air.  One of my son's fondest memories is of the time he and I were stuck waiting for my husband to come out of a long appointment.  Sam was only seven and the wait was making him very restless, so we wandered over to a pond and had a sword fight with cattails.  By the time my husband came out to the car, we were covered in cattail fluff and quite happy with ourselves.   

Things have changed so much and children today have less freedom to ramble over the countryside.  The kids of yesterday knew a lot more lore about animals and the outdoors than most children do today.  As a Mom, I felt sad that my own three had so few of these experiences.  So when my kids were young, I bought them this book about nature activities:

"Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon"

The author, Edward Duensing was a very adventurous child himself, but he also gathered knowledge of playing outdoors from many sources.  Want to whistle up a woodchuck?  Make clothes from wearable plants?  Be able to tell just how tall that tree is?  Find exploding weeds?  There are forty different fun activities in this book.  If you want to mightily impress the children in your life, then I heartily recommend reading this book and putting some of these adventures into practice.  

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It's about time that I announce the winner of the Cotton + Steel Flying Geese Quilt Kit Giveaway.  The winner my husband drew from all the slips was....

Beth was commenter number 39 and wrote:

Beth5/30/15, 1:44 AM

I commented on each blog, and found several new ones to follow--thanks! Also, now I'm browsing some Craftsy patterns I discovered while making the rounds. What a fun way to spend an evening, thanks to you. :)

I'm very happy to meet you Beth!  Thank you for your lovely comments on all the blogs!

Thanks to all of you for visiting and for your enthusiasm in that giveaway!  There was a lot of blog hopping going on and it was a lot of fun!  

Stay tuned for more giveaways here on BuzzinBumble this month.   Next up, I will be giving away the makings for a Kaffe Fassett pre-cut log cabin quilt!  I'll be looking for people who make charity quilts and holding a random drawing for the winner.  

I will be joining Cyndy's Orphan Project Adoption Event - a Linky Party at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.  Cyndy came up with the BRILLIANT idea to pass along the projects we don't think we'll ever finish by holding giveaways and linking to her event.  The one qualification is that the projects must be passed along for free - no charge (except perhaps for shipping).  So be sure to round up your own languishing orphan projects and come and join in the fun this Saturday!  

  

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