Welcome to our blog,
FROGS ARE GREEN!

For over 200 million years, ponds, marshes, grasslands, and rain forests have come alive with the calls of frogs. Yet these remarkable and colorful animals are declining at such a rapid rate that they are being called the Earth’s next dinosaurs. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, a third of the world’s amphibian species are threatened with extinction. To read more, click here!

Visit our Press page to see interviews and news features.

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Our Blog is Carbon Neutral!
"My blog is carbon neutral" is an initiative by the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees in Plumas National Forest in Northern California. The goal is to reforest 5,500 acres with 792,000 trees.
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Do you do fieldwork or amphibian research with a zoo, environmental organization, university, or government agency? If so, please consider writing a guest post for us about your work (@300 words). Email it to us at: info@frogsaregreen.com.

Contests

NEWS FLASH!

WINNERS OF THE 2011 KIDS’ ART CONTEST

WINNERS OF THE 2011 PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

We want to thank all the children who entered our 2011 Frogs Are Green kids’ art contest! We received 523 entries this year and it took quite a while getting them all loaded! Now we are going to review all the submissions and pick the winners for the age categories! We have set the date for the announcement for January 5, 2012 because it will take us a bit more time to look at so many wonderful entries!

Also! Because we received so many 3D entries, we will award someone in a special fourth category.

and… since people like our Weird frog calendar, we were hoping to create a kids’ art calendar and will need your permission, so if you see this, do email us that we can use your child’s artwork when we create it. Of course the child will get credit just like it appears on our site, name, age and state and/or country.

The photography category received about 30 entries for Frogs in the Wild and 30 for Backyard Frogs. That of course is open to adults and children and the winners will also be announced on Jan. 5th, 2012.

Thank you frog lovers! Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter so you can receive our free poster download, and know when the next contest is coming.

Calling All Kids ages 3-12! – 2011 Frogs Are Green Art Contest

We will award three winners based on age in these age groups: 3-6, 7-9, 10-12.

Our 2011 campaign to help frogs! As part of the campaign we’re excited to announce the 2nd FROGS ARE GREEN art contest for kids.

Contest theme: IT IS EASY BEING GREEN!

Your artwork can be about frogs and how we can help them, or it can be about ways we can be green at home, at school, or in the community.

Deadline for submissions is November 30, 2011 and the winners will be announced January 5, 2012. The winners will be featured in a post.  All kids who enter will receive a FROGS ARE GREEN (eco-friendly) wristband.

We’re looking for drawings, paintings, sculpture, collage, or whatever format helps you express yourself. Send your digital files or photographs of the objects to us at info@frogsaregreen.com. The file should be no larger than 3MB.

Please print out the attached flyer to post in your neighborhood schools.

We can’t wait to see your artwork!

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2011 Frog Photo Contest!

We’re excited to announce the 3rd Annual FROGS ARE GREEN Photo contest!

Here are the rules:

This year we will be accepting submissions in two categories: Frogs in the Wild and Backyard Frogs. Backyard Frog photos would include such photos as a frog perched on your picnic table or other unusual place. Last year, for example, we received a photo of a frog sitting on a pool hose. Frogs in the Wild photos, on the other hand, should feature frogs, toads, or other amphibians in their natural habitat: frog ponds, marshes, in the woods, and so on.

PLEASE—no photo manipulation and no photos of pet frogs. Please do not move the frog to get a better photo. Photos of amphibians of all kinds, including salamanders, will be accepted. E-mail all photos to us at Frogs Are Green. All photos should be in jpeg format and no larger than 3 MB. Please name your photo a short but distinctive name, (with no spaces, such as, “susan-frog-NJ.jpg”) and include a caption detailing your name, email and the location of the photo. All entries must be received by November 30, 2011. Winners will be announced January 5, 2012.

PRIZES

Winner:

The winner will receive a Frogs Are Green t-shirt or poster of his/her choice from our store. The photo will be featured in a separate post and the photo will be in our gallery all year.

SOME TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING AMPHIBIANS

For those of you who have never photographed an amphibian, here are some tips from the book Frogs: A Chorus of Colors by John and Deborah Behler, which has a chapter on photographing these elusive and well-camouflaged creatures:

• Try to learn about the animal first. What is its habitat? When are they active?
• Walk slowly and stop frequently (it helps to have someone with you who is less than 3 feet tall and has sharp eyes). Frogs and toads blend in so well that they are hard to find. Be alert for subtle movements.
• In summer, you might find the sit-and-wait frog predators hanging out on the edges of ponds and lakes.
• Be aware of the position of the sun. Avoid taking pictures at midday on bright sunny days. In the morning, face east and it will keep sunlight from coming into your lens and washing out your photos.
• Don’t necessarily put the subject in the middle of the photo. Keep the whole animal in the photo, but compose the picture so the background tells a story.
• Bracket your photos, i.e., take the same shot with different settings. Also, try taking a flash photo. Without a flash, animals in photos may look lifeless and poorly lighted.
• Try to be on the same level as your subject.
• State parks, bird sanctuaries, and wildlife refuges are good places to find amphibians.

You don’t need fancy equipment. I took this photo of a bullfrog in low light with a Kodak EasyShare camera on the Flower Setting (close up).

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Hey Kids! – Check out our 2010 Frogs Are Green Art Contest

We awarded winners in these age groups: 3-6, 7-9, 10-12. See the Gallery!

Contest theme: IT IS EASY BEING GREEN!

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Frog Lovers! Check out the 2010 Frog Photo Contest

See the winners in our two Galleries!

Frogs in the Wild

Backyard Frogs

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See the 2010 winner! - 2010 Earth Day Contest Winner

On the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, we’d like you to ignore the politics and recapture this excitement about preserving the environment and about enjoying and reconnecting to nature.

To that end, we’re sponsoring an Earth Day contest (open to all ages).  Pleasesend us one simple practical idea by April 19th that we can all use to help the environment or reconnect with nature, guided by these words:

RENEW

REBUILD

RECONNECT

RETHINK

It doesn’t have to be a grand or complicated idea. For example, maybe someone can think of a way for people to remember to bring reusable grocery bags to the store. The winner, announced on Earth Day, will receive either the poster above or below (printed on FSC certified paper) or a 100% cotton t-shirt or onesie, made and printed in the U.S  (their choice).

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Calling all Frog Artists! 2009 (click to read more)
We are seeking kids’ frog art—lots of it! We hope to encourage kids and their teachers to learn about and get interested in frogs, toads, and other amphibians. If you’re an elementary school teacher, parent, or educator, please send us jpegs (2mb maximum size) of your students’ or kids’ drawings or paintings of frogs and we will display them in school group galleries on the FROGS ARE GREEN blog. We’d be happy to receive images of any art form—sculpture, drawing, painting, or watercolor.

If the art work is part of a school project, please send the jpegs in one bunch. Individual drawings not part of a class project are fine, too. Include the name of your school, state, country (if not the U.S.), grade level, and child’s name for each piece of art.

Please print out the attached flyer to post in your neighborhood schools.

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2009 Frog Photo Contest Winner & Gallery
2009 Frog Photo Contest Entry Details (click to read more)

We are happy to announce the FROGS ARE GREEN photo contest. The winner will receive a free “Prince of Amphibians” t-shirt and we’ll feature the photo in the gallery on our blog. See the information on the left side of the blog. (Note: your photo can be of any amphibian, including salamanders).