Today we’re sharing how to make a paper frog inspired by the Green Tree frog species from Tropical North Queensland.
It’s easier than it looks, and is part of our series featuring Daintree Animal crafts for kids. Check out our Paper Plate Cassowary and Paper chain Pythons too.
This kids’ craft idea was first published in 2019 and has been updated and reshared for today’s audience.
Often when people think of frogs, they think of cute green hopping creatures, but most of the frogs I’ve seen are mottled brown with spots or stripes to help camouflage them into their environment. Check out our tadpole to frog observation tank project to see what I mean .
Not these frogs though. Queensland’s Green Tree Frog is so startlingly green that it looks like it hopped straight out of a cartoon. These guys are common in the Daintree Rainforest and are the next animal in our Daintree Rainforest animal craft series. We did see one whilst we were there on holiday, in a Rainforest Canopy walk attraction on the back of a toilet door!
Here is a stock photo of the actual frog so you know what the real one looks like.
Here are some fun Green tree frog facts for you
- Green tree frogs are one of the most common frog species in Australia, and are distributed throughout the northern half of the country
- They are usually a beautiful bright green, but depending on their mood can fade to a dark khaki green
- A female green tree frog can reach 12cm in length – that’s big for a frog!
- If taken by a predator, these frogs produce a loud high-pitched scream which may surprise the predator into dropping it
- Their favourite foods are insects and small mammals
- Their skin excretes a variety of anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties that has been useful in modern medicine
- Whilst they are native to Australia and New Guinea, these frogs have also been introduced to some countries. In Florida they are considered an invasive nuisance!
Aren’t they adorable? Let’s make one from paper.
How to make a green tree paper frog
You will need:
- Coloured construction paper in bright green, yellow or cream for the tummy and red
- White paper for the eyes
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- The printable frog template, available from both our printables store and our TPT store
How to:
Print the template to construction paper as per the instructions in the pdf file.
Assemble the parts you need to make one frog.
Cut out the parts.
Fold the tabs back on the body pieces and glue the tubby to the back to make a body.
Puff it out a little bit by flexing it gently with your fingers so it’s not a “flat” shape.
Glue the front legs on and fold the feet forward.
Glue the eye whites onto the green parts and fold the green part in half along the dotted line. Glue onto the top of the head.
Bend the back legs into shape and glue jest inside the back end of the body so they stick out to the side (I’ve angled mine slightly backwards).
Curl the tongue around a pencil and glue inside the mouth.
Your paper frog is all done! Isn’t he adorable?
More Daintree Rainforest animal crafts for kids:
- Make a paper chain Green Tree Python or Jungle Carpet python
- Create a Cassowary from a paper plate
- Use our printable template to sew a box jellyfish from felt, also includes normal jellyfish
