Cardboard Frog and Fly Catch Cup

Spring is a season of new beginnings—flowers bloom, the weather warms up, and many animals come out of hibernation. One of those animals is the frog! Frogs are a great symbol of spring because they become active again after a long winter, and they can be found in many bright and beautiful colors.

In this project, we will be creating our own frog-inspired catch cup toy using recycled cardboard and paint. Frogs can be green, but they can also be red, yellow, blue, or even spotted and patterned—so you can let your imagination run wild as you design your frog! For my example, I will be using green, but your frog can be any color you choose.

The toy we are making is called a catch cup, and it has been played with by children in many cultures around the world. This toy is most popular in parts of Hispanic America where it is known as a “balero.” The goal is to swing the attached piece and catch it in the cup, which takes practice, focus, and coordination.

As the weather gets nicer, this is a great toy to take outside and play with. Not only will you be creating something fun and unique, but you’ll also be building your hand-eye coordination and enjoying the fresh spring air.

Let’s get creative and bring our frogs to life!

1 Toilet Paper Roll

1 Small Piece of Thin Cardboard

1 Hot Glue Gun

1 Hot Glue Stick

1 Piece of String (18")

1 Tube of Black Paint

1 Tube of White Paint

1 Tube of Red Paint

1 Tube Light Green Paint

1 Tube Dark Green Paint

1 Pair of Scissors

1 Pen (not pictured)

1 Pallet Knife (not pictured)

Paint Brushes of your choice (I used 1 Large Square Brush, 1 Large Round Brush, 1 Small Square brush, and 1 Tiny Round Brush)

Take your toilet paper roll and apply a strip of hot glue inside of one end (you don't need to go all the way around, just half is fine)

Press both ends of the roll together and hold until they're stuck together

Some glue may seep out as you press the ends together, this will be very hot so do not touch it until it cools, then you can remove the excess glue either with your fingers or a pair of scissors

The result should look like this (Photo 4)

Lay the body you just made down in the middle of a scrap piece of thin cardboard (I used a soda can box)

Using a writing tool, draw some hands and legs for your frog, use the body as a size reference so your arms and legs don't come out too big or too small

On the same piece of cardboard draw two heart shapes with a half circle "bump" on the end to make your flies

Cut all thin cardboard pieces out with scissors

Your pieces should look like this (Photo 3)

Using a big square brush, paint your color of choice onto the body of the frog

While the paint on the body dries, use the same color to paint one side of the frogs arms and legs

After doing the limbs, give the body a second layer of paint

Once the body has a second layer, go back and give the limbs a second layer of paint as well

You'll then have to flip the arms and legs over and give the other side two layers of paint to match the already painted side

Some paints take longer to dry and that's OK, just make sure your first layer of paint is completely dry before adding the second layer

You could also use a hair dryer to make the paint dry faster, just don't let the pieces blow away!

Using the end of a pallet knife, dip it into another color of paint and carefully dab the end of the tool onto the body of the frog to make spots and give your frog a fun design

You could use any tool or object with a flat rounded end or even just a regular paint brush to do this part

After that's dry, take your big square brush and paint the inside of the frogs mouth red

You only need to do one coat of paint for the inside of the mouth

Then use your large round brush to paint on some eyes

Your pieces should look like this (Photo 5)

Use your small square brush to paint the flies black, you do not need to flip them over and paint the other side

Depending on how opaque (solid, non-transparent) your paint is, you may need to add a second coat of black

Once the black is dry, use the end of your paint brush and some red paint to dab on tiny eyes onto the flies, just like how you dabbed on the spots on the frog

After the eyes dry, use your tiny round brush and some white paint to give your flies dimension

You can do this by quickly painting up and down at an angle onto the flies "wings"

Or you could paint the lines individually if you want more control over the brush and the design

Using the hot glue gun, attach your limbs to the underside of body of the frog

The frog should have two arms on top facing up, and two legs on bottom facing down

Using the same pallet knife as before, dip it into some black paint and give your frog some life by dabbing some pupils onto his eyes

Your frog is now finished and should look something like this (Photo 3)

Place one of your fly pieces painted side down and lay your 18" pieces of string on top of it

Add some hot glue on top of the string, then place the other side of your fly on top with the painted side face up

The result should be a double sided fly with a piece of string coming out of it, make sure both side of the fly are pressed together, you may add some more hot glue if it looks like they're not totally glued together

Then take the other side of the string and glue it to the inside of the frogs mouth using a generous amount of hot glue to make sure the string stays put

And you're done!

To use your new Frog Catch Cup, players can use a swift hand movement to toss the fly and catch it inside the frog's mouth, aiming to improve hand-eye coordination, balance, and fine motor skills through practice.

I hope you enjoyed making this as much as I did, and I cant wait to see how yours turns out!