How to make fake frog eggs and pond scum!

Months and months ago, I promised my sweet grandniece that I would let her have a party at the Little Bayou House.  A small group of her friends always get together in the Fall for a bit of enjoyment.  Because these kids are well-behaved, I consented.  The trouble is..I want this party to be one she remembers.  I want her to have a great time here.  So....Michael and I have been working our fingers to the bones to prepare.  I have written a "clue hunt" complete with a book-like back story.  This clue hunt is not going to be your average "go look there" type event.  Each clue is very vague and leads to a puzzle of some sort. They will gather items that might prove to be useful at each destination. Without these items, a few of the clues cannot be obtained. Other clues might just be some item with no written clue.  As an example, the first clue is an empty box.  That is it.  Hmmm?  Well, by being observant, I hope they can get into the locked house with that empty box.  It will take a good bit of ingenuity just to unlock the door!  Since these are older teens, I am positive that they will do well.

While she was here, Elizabeth and I went shopping for Halloween decorations but also items for this party.  I needed a few props that I did not have on hand.  One of the clues takes the kids outside to gather some clues and needed items.  To find one item, they will have to search..ummm..a "water feature".  Yep, that is about as bad as it sounds.  In creating this, I needed to replicate frog eggs.  I did not care to use real eggs since some will most probably be flung from the pond with a chorus of "Ewww"s!  The question was..how do I replicate frog eggs?  Elizabeth and I went on a quest and I do believe we might have solved the problem!

The small pack of water beads will make a nice bowlful when hydrated.

Water Beads!  These are some weird little beads that when soaked in water swell to unbelievable sizes!  They are about the size of a pin head when you open the pack but when hydrated, grow to about the size of a marble.  The beads come in a variety of colors including crystal clear. Most of the time, these are used in floral arrangements.  Not here!  Here these little gelatinous beads will become frog eggs!  I chose the clear ones to use as the frog eggs but bought a few green and blue ones to use as "filler".  Both colors turned out to be most brilliant and not something that you would find in an abandoned pond.  With a little bit of playing, we found that the beads will change color by using something besides clean water.  Our first experiment..(yeah, it is weird) was to use coffee.  Only because this was in the middle of the night and we were already on about our fourth pot of coffee.  It only seemed natural that the beads might like to have a little caffeine, too!  The coffee did make the most beautiful pond slime green beads when used to soak the lime green ones. Success!  Who needed to try anything else when coffee did the trick.  Never underestimate the virtues of a cup of coffee during any problematic instance!  It is the best!

The bright green water beads were hydrated according to instructions.  We wanted "pond scum" green so we experimented and hydrated with coffee!  It worked!

Now I have my pond scum and frog eggs..albeit..definitely infertile frog eggs. They do lack the tiny black dot of a tadpole in the middle!  Still, it will be dark and the water will be murky, so these should give at least the idea that some frog decided to visit the little pond.  Beneath all of these "eggs", some well placed hyacinths and some matted, stringy moss, the searchers will pull out some random item.  Whether this item proves useful or not is yet to be seen.  The whole point of this segment of the clue hunt is to provide pure entertainment..at least for me as the spectator! 

The clear water beads do bear a resemblance to frog eggs except for the fact that they do not have a "tadpole" inside!

With only a few weeks left to prepare, Michael and I have kicked it in gear and almost have everything prepared.  He still has to build an outdoor shelf and my water feature.  This should not be overly difficult since I have requested that for the water feature, he use an old porcelain kitchen sink that came from Mom and Dad's place.  This and the shelf will become permanent additions to the Rose Garden.  The shelf will be used to grow herbs and the sink as my potting area...minus the make believe frog eggs!

*Now..as a note..these water beads are great fun!  It is almost impossible to walk past a bowl of them without sticking your hand in the bowl to swish them around a bit!  But...word of warning!  There are a couple of things that you never..ever..never do with these little beads!  No matter how much you are tempted to "thump" one...DO NOT!!!  Nope..contrary to what you may believe would happen to a water infused bit of gelatin, they do not explode into a shower of water droplets.  They break alright..into a billion and one tiny fragments of squishy ooze that is almost impossible to grasp.  Picking them up off the floor is quite a task...ask my son who had the irrepressible urge to thump one.  Michael spent the better part of an hour trying to corral all of the pieces.  Warning number two...NEVER DROP THEM!!  They do not splat.  They go on a bouncing frenzy around the room.  There is no stopping the things!  They bounce everywhere!  Then, as before, they are almost impossible to corral!  Other than that..enjoy!