DIY Kids Frog Chair! Simple Woodworking Project

This week we built a super simple kids frog chair! This entire project will cost less than $20 and will bring a smile to your little ones face:) We have a full set of plans available that include printable templates:) http://woodbrew.tv/product/kids-frog-chair-plans/

Materials needed

• (1) Southern Yellow Pine 1” x 12” x 8’ You will need a board that is at least 11” wide and 50” long
• (8) 1 ¼” Screws You can use any screws ranging from 1 ¼” – 2” in length.
• (1) 3/8” Dowel We used this dowel to plug of screw holes. This is an optional step.
• (1) Spar Urethane We used Spar urethane to finish our chair, but feel free to use any paint, stain, or clear coat.

Read through the entire plans before you get started. We used Southern Yellow Pine (construction lumber), for this build, but feel free to use whatever species you’d like.

Start by cutting your board into more manageable pieces. We used a table saw to make all of these cuts, but a hand saw, miter saw, or circular saw would work. Follow the diagram below.

The Blue pieces are your two side panels.

The Grey piece is the seat of the chair.

The Green is the back of the chair.

If you get a set of plans from the link below, I supply full size templates in the plans folder.

http://woodbrew.tv/product/kids-frog-chair-plans/

Print them out, noting that you will need to tape several sheets of paper together once they are printed. Print out each page, then line them up and tape them together. Make sure you are printing them out at 100% scale. Once you have them printed, apply the side panel template to one of your side pieces. You can use spray adhesive or regular glue to past the template to the wood.

Use a band saw, jig saw, or scroll saw to cut around your template. This does not need to be perfect, but take your time and get as close to the line as possible.

Use a drill bit and make a hole in each eye of the frog. You will use this hole to insert the blade of your jig saw or scroll saw. Once the hole is made, insert the blade and cut the eye out of the template.

Sand all your edges before proceeding. We used a file and 120 grit sand paper to smooth all the edges. Sand back to your template line and try to remove any blade marks.

We decided to round over all of the edges. We did this by using a round over bit in the router table, but you could use a hand held router, sand paper, or even just skip this step.

Start by using a countersink and drilling in a hole in the top edge of a side panel.

Attach the back piece to the side panel using a 1 ¼” screw. You can use a clamp to hold everything together if needed. Align the back piece with the back edge of the side panel and screw into place.

Once the top screw is in place, pivot the back piece inward. There is no magic angle here, but we made ours is around 10º. This is not critical, just do this by eye and see what looks best.

Attach the back in place using the same method as above. Countersink a hole and drive a 1 ¼” screw into place.

Now attach the other side panel into place using the same methods as above. Use a clamp if needed to help hold things in place.

Cut a scrap block to 6” tall. You will use this block to help hold the seat at the correct height. Set the block into place and set the seat on top. Angle the seat downward slightly and clamp everything into place. Attach the seat into place using 1 ¼” screws from the side.

This is an optional step. We decided to use wooden dowels to plug our screw holes. All you do is add a little glue, pound the dowel into the hole, and trim the dowel flush with a hand saw.

Do any final sanding and prep for your finish. We decided to

use a spar urethane clear coat, but you can use paint, stain, oil, or any other style finish you’d like. Get creative! We also painted white above the eyes to give a little more detail to them. Your DONE!