Have you ever watched a nature documentary with your kids? Kids love seeing the animals (and animal babies!) up close and in their natural habitat, in ways that it’s almost impossible to see in the wild. I am always looking for ways to extend learning with more than one activity about the same subject. We have paired a great movie with a craft to celebrate SEA TURTLES!
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Before we went to Mexico on our trip this summer, we studied as much as we could about sea turtles. To start off, we watched Turtle: The Incredible Journey
Make Your Own Sea Turtles
After the film, make this simple turtle craft. Gather the materials:
oil pastels, heavy white paper
Check out photos of sea turtles on-line. Notice how sea turtles have large front flippers (unlike land tortoises) for swimming, and smaller back flippers that can be used for digging their nests in the sand. They have streamlined shells that can be anywhere from olive-green to yellow to browns, reds, or even black. Sea turtles cannot retract its head under its shell as land turtles can, and generally they have the same type of camouflage on its limbs and head. The top part of the shell- called the carapace- is either oval or heart-shaped, and is covered with a layer of horny plates called scutes (except the leatherback turtle). We were told that adult males have longer, thicker tails than females.
Once you draw your sea turtles with the oil pastels, paint blue water over the entire pictures with the watercolors. Now you have your own sea turtles!
I love sea turtles too and I worry about them! I hope they are making a comeback!
Great craft! One of the most amazing experiences of my life was seeing baby sea turtles hatch and crawl out to the water when I went home to visit my parents who were living in Nicaragua while I was in college. They are incredible animals!
I’m going to look for this movie. Thank you for the recommendation. The children’s art is totally gorgeous. I like how unique each one is. Funny, because I posted a similar art activity this week that the kiddos created during our Geography Animal Habitats Around the World Study.
We did a sea turtle study last year. We visited Sea Turtle Inc. rescue center on South Padre Island, Texas. The facility serves as a rehabilitation center for sick and injured sea turtles.
I would also like to recommend the book “One Tiny Turtle” by Nicola Davies. It follows the life of a loggerhead turtle.
I love this craft and I want to see that movie!! The turtles turned out so beautifully!
It is really good- there was some criticism because it is called a documentary, but some of it was filmed in an aquarium instead of in the ocean- but honestly, the kids don’t care!? And they learn soooo much about a turtles migration and life cycle. It is really awesome!!! I think you can stream in on-line in places. We saw it on Netflix.