 When my kids were little, we enjoyed catching tadpoles from a nearby lake. We scooped up wiggly dots near the shore and put them in an old fish aquarium. It was so much fun to watch them develop into frogs. Steve Johnson is an associate professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida. He says the container you keep tadpoles in can be anything from a plastic shoebox to a child's wading pool. The most important key for tadpole survival is fresh, clean water.