Friendly Frog Play Guide

Meet Friendly Frog, a playful and engaging busy book designed to delight little hands and growing minds. With sensory details, fine motor activities, early learning concepts, and plenty of opportunities for storytelling, Friendly Frog turns everyday play into meaningful moments of connection and discovery.

From self-care practice and counting to threading, shape learning, and imaginative play, every page has been thoughtfully designed to support your child’s development in a fun and gentle way.

Front Cover: Frog with Sensory Eyes and Elastic Legs

The front cover features a cheerful frog with mesh eyes for sensory exploration and elastic legs that can be pulled, stretched, or used for peekaboo play.

Play ideas

Encourage your child to touch the frog’s eyes and talk about how they feel. Are they bumpy? Different from the rest of the page?

Gently pull and stretch the frog’s elastic legs together, talking about how they move. You can hide the legs and reveal them again for a simple peekaboo game.

Extend the play

Make frog sounds together and pretend Friendly Frog is ready to jump. Talk about where frogs live, what they eat, and how they move.

You can also use this page to introduce words like jump, stretch, pull, long, and soft.

This page is perfect for sensory play, curiosity, and capturing your child’s attention right from the beginning.

Inside Front Cover: Mirror for Self-Discovery

The inside front cover includes a mirror that is ideal for self-discovery, tummy time, and face-to-face interaction.

Play ideas

Let your child look at their reflection and point out their eyes, nose, mouth, and hair. Smile, wave, and make simple expressions together.

Extend the play

Use the mirror to practice emotions like happy, sad, sleepy, and surprised. It is also wonderful for encouraging body awareness and language development.

During tummy time, the mirror can help keep babies engaged and interested for longer.

Page 1: Shoes with Laces and Velcro

This practical life page features a pair of shoes: one with laces and one with velcro, perfect for self-care learning and fine motor practice.

Play ideas

Practice opening and closing the velcro shoe and explore the laces on the other shoe. Talk about how we put shoes on before going out and why shoes help protect our feet.

Extend the play

Use this page to build everyday vocabulary and routines:
“Which shoe has laces?”
“Which one can we pull open?”
“When do we wear our shoes?”
“Where are we going today?”

You can also pretend you are getting ready for an outing, choosing shoes for the park, shops, or a walk outside.

This page is lovely for developing finger strength, hand coordination, and familiarity with self-help skills.

Page 2: Lift-the-Flap Numbers and Ladybugs

Lift the flaps to discover numbers and matching ladybugs with spots that correspond to each number.

Play ideas

Lift each flap and count the number of spots on the ladybugs together. Match the number you see with the correct number of dots.

You can say:
“One ladybug has one spot.”
“Can you find the ladybug with three spots?”
“Let’s count them together.”

Extend the play

This page is wonderful for introducing number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, and early counting skills.

You can also talk about ladybugs, their colours, where they live, and what they might be doing under the flap.

For older toddlers, try counting forwards and backwards or asking which number is bigger or smaller.

Page 3: Seahorse Threading Page

A beautiful seahorse page designed for threading and sensory play.

Play ideas

Thread through the page carefully and talk about the seahorse as you play. Encourage your child to notice the colours, shapes, and movement of the thread.

Extend the play

Use this page as an opportunity to talk about the ocean, sea animals, and where seahorses live. You can imagine the seahorse swimming through the water, meeting fish, or hiding in the coral.

Introduce language like through, under, over, and around as your child threads.

This page is fantastic for hand-eye coordination, patience, concentration, and fine motor development.

Page 4: Dog with Buckles and Colour Matching

This sweet dog page includes buckles to undo and fasten again, as well as colour matching opportunities.

Play ideas

Practice opening and closing the buckles while chatting about the dog and the colours on the page.

Ask questions like:
“Can you undo the buckle?”
“Can you do it back up again?”
“Which colour goes here?”
“What colour can you see?”

Extend the play

Pretend the dog is getting ready for a walk or going on an adventure. Talk about what dogs like to do, what they eat, how they sound, and how we care for pets.

The buckles are wonderful for developing fine motor control and practical life skills, while the colour matching adds an extra layer of early learning and problem-solving.

Page 5: Hot Air Balloon with Shape Puzzle

This imaginative page features a hot air balloon with a snap button that opens to reveal a shape puzzle inside.

Play ideas

Undo the snap button and discover the shapes hidden inside. Name each shape and talk about what makes it different.

You can ask:
“Can you find the circle?”
“How many sides does the triangle have?”
“Which shape has corners?”

Extend the play

Pretend the hot air balloon is floating through the sky on a big adventure. Where is it going? Who is inside? What can they see from up high?

This page is perfect for learning about shapes, building early maths vocabulary, and encouraging imaginative play.

You can also look for the same shapes around your home or compare shapes by size, corners, and sides.

Page 6: Three Bear Finger Puppets with Zipper

This page features three bear finger puppets and a zipper, combining storytelling, family conversations, and fine motor fun.

Play ideas

Use the bear finger puppets to make up stories, talk about families, and encourage imaginative conversations.

You can retell the classic Three Bears story or create your own bear adventure. Who is the biggest bear? Who is the smallest? Where are they going today?

Practice opening and closing the zipper too, which adds another valuable fine motor activity.

Extend the play

This page is a beautiful prompt for talking about family members, relationships, and routines at home.

The zipper can also be used as a handy storage space, while the puppets support storytelling, sequencing, and expressive language.

You can sing songs, invent voices for each bear, or ask your child to decide what happens next in the story.

Back Cover: Sensory Fabric Page

The back cover features a sensory fabric page with calming textures designed to soothe and comfort little ones.

Play ideas

Encourage your child to rub, pat, or stroke the fabric gently. Notice how it feels and talk about the texture together.

Extend the play

This page is perfect for winding down, quiet time, travel, transitions, or calming moments throughout the day.

Pair it with soft language or deep breathing:
“Let’s have a calm moment.”
“Can you feel how soft this is?”
“Let’s take a big breath together.”

It is a lovely way to finish play on a soothing note.

Why families love Friendly Frog

Friendly Frog combines so many rich opportunities for play and learning in one beautifully interactive book.

Across its pages, children can explore:

• sensory development
• fine motor skills
• practical life play
• number recognition and counting
• colour matching
• shape learning
• threading and hand-eye coordination
• storytelling and imaginative play
• calm sensory regulation

Whether you are using it at home, during quiet time, while out and about, or as part of everyday routines, Friendly Frog helps turn ordinary moments into playful learning opportunities.

A little tip

Let your child lead the play. Some days they may be drawn to the mirror, some days they may want to zip and buckle over and over again, and other days they may want to tell stories with the bears. That repetition is meaningful and helps build confidence, coordination, and understanding.

Friendly Frog was designed to be both playful and purposeful, giving your child plenty of ways to explore, learn, and connect.