Cbeebies Iplayer Hops to Life with Hand-Knit ‘Froglets’ — Makers Share a Quiet Joy
In a sunlit living room suddenly emptied of its family, three tiny wool frogs pop from behind a sofa arm and begin a quiet exploration of everyday objects. The new preschool series Froglets will arrive on cbeebies iplayer, bringing handcrafted puppetry and simple domestic wonder to screens where children watch and parents remember the pleasure of imaginative play.
What is Froglets and why is it coming to Cbeebies Iplayer?
Froglets is a 26 x 5’ preschool show about three wool frogs—Ziff, Pipp and Button—who secretly live inside an ordinary family home. When Mum, Dad and the children leave and the house grows still, the Froglets emerge for a new mini adventure guided by narrator Sue Perkins and watched only by the family dog, Bertie. The series was commissioned by Rai Kids, created and directed by Massimo Fenati, and produced by the UK’s Eaglet Pictures in collaboration with Italy’s Pesci Combattenti. Broadcasters have boarded the series for CBeebies and iPlayer, placing the handcrafted concept where young audiences expect short, imaginative stories.
How were the Froglets made, and who brought them to life?
The Froglets are original knitted characters created and made by Holger Auffenberg, who developed their outfits and personalities after working on a televised knitting competition. To maintain a tactile feel, the production used a bespoke technical filming setup to capture the Froglets as live action rather than relying on CGI, and a team of puppeteers brought the wool characters to life on set. Tess Cuming serves as Executive Producer for Eaglet Pictures, and Riccardo Mastropietro directed and produced the episodes. This combination of knit craft, puppetry and tailored filming techniques aims to preserve the handmade charm at the heart of the series.
Creator and Series Director Massimo Fenati reflects on that creative impulse: “My most fun memories of when I was a child are about the days spent playing with humble objects… I wanted to make a show that could inspire them to be as imaginative and creative as possible. ” That perspective frames Froglets as a deliberate pushback against playthings that arrive fully prescribed, inviting children instead to invent worlds from ordinary items.
Designer and Maker Holger Auffenberg describes the experience as “such a joyful, positive experience, ” noting that designing and making the Froglets’ outfits allowed him to experiment without usual constraints. His hands-on work and the puppeteers’ performances are central to the series’ aesthetic and emotional intent.
What does this mean for young viewers and the industry?
Froglets positions itself as a gentle invitation to curiosity: short, five-minute stories that center imagination and the tactile pleasure of handmade characters. For producers and craftspeople, the series represents an international collaboration that pairs British creative direction and Italian production partners. For audiences on cbeebies iplayer, the show promises a different sensory register from much of modern children’s programming, prioritizing texture, small domestic mysteries and understated narration.
Eaglet Pictures, led creatively by Massimo Fenati with Tess Cuming as Executive Producer, has focused its slate on animation and family programming. Froglets follows that trajectory and joins the company’s past projects that leaned into artist-led storytelling. The series’ production choices—knit creation, puppetry and a live-action filming solution—underscore an effort to keep craft visible in every frame.
Image caption suggestion (alt text): “cbeebies iplayer — the hand-knit Froglets explore a family home”
Back in the quiet living room where Ziff, Pipp and Button tiptoe across a coffee table, the toys’ small acts of discovery feel like a call to slow down. The makers leave the final instruction to viewers: look closely, imagine freely, and let ordinary things become extraordinary.
