On occasion, you may find yourself under the constant gaze of your kitty who, at a moment's notice would be ready to jump up and have some fun, except you have nothing to offer.
This instructable will show you how to jazz up a lazy Sunday afternoon for your lovable little feline in just a few minutes with a simple piece of cardboard!!!
This instructable will show you how to jazz up a lazy Sunday afternoon for your lovable little feline in just a few minutes with a simple piece of cardboard!!!
Step 1: Background:
Cats find interest in the most unusual items, in this case we are using a material that is readily available, easy to work with, non-toxic and recyclable to boot!: Cardboard!
Curiously attracted to cardboard either by its texture, smell and/or sound as it glides across the floor, cats find this toy fascinating. The rigid, yet light-weight construction is great for tossing in the air and batting around.
Overzealous kitties may mangle the cardboard cat toy, but this is intended to be a cheap and easy project; and given enough time, you can produce tens or even hundreds of replacement cardboard toys for no cost at all.
This instructable should not be used in homes where children and or dogs are present as it contains pieces that are small and easily broken which may present a choking hazard.
I personally designed the cardboard cat toys featured in this instructable as a promotional object commissioned by Marmalade pet care ®. It's a very simple concept and provides hours, (sometimes minutes) of fun! With Marmalade pet care's ® permission, I am sharing this project and its design template with you!
Curiously attracted to cardboard either by its texture, smell and/or sound as it glides across the floor, cats find this toy fascinating. The rigid, yet light-weight construction is great for tossing in the air and batting around.
Overzealous kitties may mangle the cardboard cat toy, but this is intended to be a cheap and easy project; and given enough time, you can produce tens or even hundreds of replacement cardboard toys for no cost at all.
This instructable should not be used in homes where children and or dogs are present as it contains pieces that are small and easily broken which may present a choking hazard.
I personally designed the cardboard cat toys featured in this instructable as a promotional object commissioned by Marmalade pet care ®. It's a very simple concept and provides hours, (sometimes minutes) of fun! With Marmalade pet care's ® permission, I am sharing this project and its design template with you!
Step 2: Supplies:
1) A clean piece of kraft cardboard;
2) Printed or hand drawn template;
3) Tape (to secure template);
4) A sharp X-acto Blade and handle;
5) Cutting mat; (or another sheet of cardboard to cut on);
6) Elmer's non-toxic glue
The basic concept behind this toy is to create a 3-dimension form by juxtaposing (2), 2-dimensional planes on to one another.
Or in classic 'breakfast cereal box' language: by inserting "slot-A into slot-B".
These toys can be made in any form you can conjure up! But for the purposes of this instructable, we will be using the 'mouse' cat toy template (available in the following link in step 7).
2) Printed or hand drawn template;
3) Tape (to secure template);
4) A sharp X-acto Blade and handle;
5) Cutting mat; (or another sheet of cardboard to cut on);
6) Elmer's non-toxic glue
The basic concept behind this toy is to create a 3-dimension form by juxtaposing (2), 2-dimensional planes on to one another.
Or in classic 'breakfast cereal box' language: by inserting "slot-A into slot-B".
These toys can be made in any form you can conjure up! But for the purposes of this instructable, we will be using the 'mouse' cat toy template (available in the following link in step 7).
Step 3: Secure template to cardboard
The pre-designed template assumes you are using a 3/16" thick piece of cardboard. If you are using a thinner or thicker piece of cardboard, adjust the width of the slots accordingly.
Tape the (computer printed or hand sketched) paper template to your piece of cardboard.
Pay particular attention to the direction of the corrugated flutes: to retain enough structure, the flutes should run perpendicular to the tail.
Tape the (computer printed or hand sketched) paper template to your piece of cardboard.
Pay particular attention to the direction of the corrugated flutes: to retain enough structure, the flutes should run perpendicular to the tail.
Step 4: Cutting out the cardboard mouse
Using an X-acto blade, carefully score the cardboard along the lines of the template shapes.
First trace the image with your blade, cutting through the paper and just scoring the cardboard underneath, (this is easier than cutting through the paper and cardboard all at once).
Remove the paper template and completely cut out the pieces using the score lines as a guide.
First trace the image with your blade, cutting through the paper and just scoring the cardboard underneath, (this is easier than cutting through the paper and cardboard all at once).
Remove the paper template and completely cut out the pieces using the score lines as a guide.
Step 5: A dot of glue
A dot of Elmer's non-toxic glue is sufficient to hold the pieces firmly in place when in use!
Step 7: Even more shapes!
As mentioned earlier, you can create these toys in any shape you can imagine! Once you have gained a basic understanding of the toy's construction, create new shapes by sketching them on a piece of scrap paper, or even directly on the cardboard using a non-toxic pen or pencil.
Downloadable templates can be found here:
Cardboard mouse
A Jack and Ball shape template are also available through these links:
Cardboard Jak
Cardboard Ball
Downloadable templates can be found here:
Cardboard mouse
A Jack and Ball shape template are also available through these links:
Cardboard Jak
Cardboard Ball
Step 8: A healthy cat is a happy cat!
"...Hours, (sometimes minutes) of fun!!!
Pic below: Oscar, his mouse toy and his tongue...
Pic below: Oscar, his mouse toy and his tongue...
Flag this comment as:
Not NiceInappropriateSpam
Shany120
says:
Mar 6, 2011. 12:31 PMReply
cute!
4
bowmaster
says:
Jul 18, 2009. 4:16 PMReply
My 12 month old, 8 pound kitten could make short work of this. By short I mean 1-2 minutes.
1
Babyshoes
says:
Mar 28, 2008. 4:54 AMReply
May just have to try this out on my ferrets, though they will probably prefer to chew it than chase it!
hishealer
in reply to Jul 10, 2009. 1:53 PMReply
*SQUEEEEEAAAAALLLLLL* I LOVE FERRETS!
1
twocvbloke
says:
Jul 9, 2009. 12:43 PMReply
My cats just like foil balls, usually used foil from cooking (mostly wiped off though), I think they like it cos most of the time it smells like bacon... :D
Dopeman
says:
Jun 4, 2009. 8:45 PMReply
That seems like a lot of instructions for such a simple project but still good idea.
41
Weissensteinburg
says:
Mar 28, 2008. 8:55 AMReply
Tie a piece of string to it, and pull it across the room from around a corner =]
50
gmjhowe
says:
Mar 28, 2008. 1:27 AMReplyNice! great fun, simple harmless. great instructions
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »
