There were once two lost frogs who couldn’t find their way back to their pond. They hopped here and they hopped there. But they were decidedly lost.

They were lost and beginning to get very thirsty.

Then, ahead of them they saw an extraordinary pond. It was as white as the clouds above. They were so parched, they hop-sprinted over to the pond and leaped into it.

As soon as they hit the sticky liquid they realized they’d made a mistake. This was not a pond at all, but a bucket of cream! Thick dense cream that was beginning to pull them under!

They tried to scramble up the sides of the bucket, but the silky cream made them slip and slide.

After thrashing around for some time, one of the frogs burst into tears. She was exhausted and thirsty and could not even begin to imagine how they would escape. She couldn’t see an end in sight. After a while she just stopped paddling, and let herself to sink to the bottom.

The other frog called after her and did his best to get her to keep her swimming, but it was no use, she had given up.

The lonely little frog kept treading cream, and treading cream and treading cream and after a while, the cream started to thicken. He kept going, and eventually, the cream hardened into butter. All the little fellow had to do then was hop out of the bucket and he was on his way.

Classroom Activity:

Making Butter

This story demonstrates the importance of perseverance and never giving up, as well as the how ones attitude to a situation can either make you or break you.

If you are telling this story to young kids, you could couple it with a butter making activity.

You’ll need:

• Heavy cream (do not use reduced fat cream, as butter is made from the fat content of milk)
• Small jars with secure lids (baby food jar size is perfect)
• Salt (for taste if you want to try your butter after)
• Crackers
• Butter knife

Fill half the jar with the cream. Secure the lid and shake. It may take as little as 10 minutes, though it may take longer depending on the vigor of the shaking.

To keep the children interested, you could play a game like musical statues while they shake their jars of cream.

Or if you just want to make one jar of butter, the children could just take turns shaking it.

Explain to the children that cream is made up of tiny globs of fat and tiny globs of protein. When you shake the cream, these globs stick together to form butter!

The solid part of the mixture is butter and the liquid on top is buttermilk.

Tip: If possible, try and keep the cream/butter cold for preservation purposes.

If you are brave and have been hygienic in your preparation, the kids can try their butter by adding a little bit of salt and spreading their butter on crackers.