Rainbow Turtle Craft

Are you looking for a quick, easy craft to make your preschooler smile and give you a few minutes to make dinner? Then try this flexible turtle craft! How can a turtle be flexible, you ask? Well, this can be a purely for fun activity or you can adapt it to be a learning activity. You can use sharpies, crayons, paints--whatever you have on hand that works with your idea or lesson plan!

Happy Rainbow Turtle!

A few ideas to try:

• Colors of the rainbow (labeled with the names of the colors or not).
• Numbers (put a different number in each section of the turtle shell and have your child put that number of stickers in each section)
• Different Lines or Patterns (fill each section with a different line type or pattern)
• When done, you could make a tambourine or shaker (not for little ones under 3 years of age due to choking hazard).

The ideas for this craft are endless. I'd love to see some examples of how you and your children decide to use this craft idea! ENJOY!

Rainbow Turtles:

Supplies Needed:

• Two paper plates that are the same size
• Pencil and ruler
• Sharpie or black marker
• Crayons, markers or paints
• Scrap pieces of construction paper for head, feet and tail. Color, your choice.
• Clear tape
• Stapler

Directions:

1. Draw an octagon, or similar shape, in the center of one of the paper plates. I traced a puzzle piece from one of our puzzles. Then, draw a line from each of the points of the octagon to the edge of the plate creating 9 sections total. This can be divided however will work for you and your children (and the lesson you are teaching). Don't stress, draw the best you can. Have fun!

2. Go over your pencil lines with marker, if desired, to make them stand out more and make the sections easier for your child to see.

3. Labels the sections with color names and have your child fill them in using crayons, markers, etc.

4. Cut out a head, four legs and a tail from construction paper. Have your child draw a face on the turtle head and then tape the body parts to the bottom side of the plate. 

5. Attach a second plate, flipped the opposite way, to become the underside of your turtle. Staple the two plates together around the rim, making sure to go through the turtle body parts to secure the layers altogether. **If you want to turn this project into a music-making shaker, insert a few dried beans in between the plates before securing them together. You may want to use extra staples or glue to make sure the plates are securely fastened and the dried beans do not come out. Either way, you'll want to keep this craft away from anyone under 3 due to the small parts that will create a choking hazard.