Origami · folding only · Growing · about 15 minutes

Jumping Frog

No scissors · No glue · No adult help needed

  • Rectangle of stiff paper or thin card, twice as long as it is wide, 75 x 150 mm (3 x 6 in)
  • Marker for the eyes (optional)

Safety: Hop the frog on a table, away from faces and glasses.

Finished

Blue dashes: valley fold (toward you). Pink dash-dot: mountain fold (away from you). Thick line with scissors: cut. Yellow: glue.

  1. Start. Put the rectangle down tall and narrow, with the white side facing up.

  2. 1. Fold and unfold: Fold the top right corner down to the left edge, so the top edge lies along the left edge. Press, then unfold.

  3. 2. Fold and unfold: Fold the top left corner down to the right edge the same way. Press, then unfold. The two creases make an X.

  4. 3. Fold and unfold: Fold the top edge behind along a line through the middle of the X. Press, then unfold.

  5. 4. Squash fold: Push the two sides in at the ends of that last crease. The top folds down into a triangle on top of the body.

  6. 5. Valley fold: Make the front legs: fold the two bottom corners of the triangle's top layers up to its top point.

  7. 6. Valley fold: Fold the tip of each leg out to the side, along a slanted line from the bottom of the leg, so the feet stick out.

  8. 7. Valley fold: Fold the left and right sides of the body in to the middle. Slide them under the triangle at the top.

  9. 8. Valley fold: Fold the bottom edge up to meet the bottom of the triangle.

  10. spring

    9. Valley fold: Fold that same flap back down in half, so its top edge meets the bottom fold. This zigzag is the frog's spring.

  11. turn over

    10. Turn over: Turn the frog over. The spring is now underneath, and the frog sits on it.

  12. 11. Draw: Draw two eyes and a wide smile on the head.

  13. hop!

    12. Push: Press the back edge of the frog down with one finger, then slide your finger off backward. The frog jumps!

If something goes wrong