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Easy Paper Plate Turtle Craft for Kids

Are you looking for a turtle craft preschool and kindergarten kids will love? This Paper Plate Turtle Craft is perfect for young children who are exploring an ocean theme. It’s a fun way to get creative and looks fantastic on your classroom wall. Let’s get crafting.

If you want to make your Summer themed lessons a breeze, then check out the Summer Activity Pack. It’s filled with math and literacy centers, fine motor activities and arts and crafts templates. All of which are aligned with preschool learning standards. Check it out today.

Disclosure: Adult supervision is required for all activities at all times. Some of the links provided in this blog are affiliate links. I will be paid a small commission if you use this link to make a purchase.

More Summer Crafts for Kids

If you love this turtle paper plate craft, then you’ll love these other fun craft ideas for Summer. Here are some more of my favorite creative ideas to do with kids.

  1. Ice Cream Coloring Pages (Free Printable)
  2. Pineapple Craft for Summer
  3. Frozen Paint – Process Art for Kids
  4. Egg Carton Sea Turtle Craft
  5. Yarn Turtle Craft

​For more ideas, take a look at these 100 Summer Crafts for Kids.

Materials Needed

  1. Paper plates
  2. Green Paint
  3. Glue stick
  4. Green Paper
  5. Scissors
  6. Black marker (or a pair of wiggly eye)

How to make a Paper Plate Turtle Craft

1. Draw the head and flippers.

Place your paper plate on a sheet of green construction paper and draw the turtle’s head and flippers shape on the paper around it.

2. Cut them out.

Use a pair of scissors to cut out each of the pieces. I also ended up using the rest of the paper to make small squares to decorate the turtle shell with. 

Scissors are a fantastic way for young kids to develop fine motor skills (the muscles in the hands and fingers) and are an essential part of getting ready for school. However, if you are doing this easy turtle craft with toddlers, they may need a little help with this step.

3. Paint the paper plate green.

The paper plate is going to be the turtle’s shell. Even though I stuck with a traditional green color, you can decorate your turtle shell anyway you like. 

4. Glue the squares onto the green plate.

Paste the squares all over your paper plate and then wait for it to dry before moving onto the next step.

You also don’t need to use green card stock, you can also decorate your fun turtle craft with:

  1. Colorful tissue paper squares
  2. Washi tape
  3. ​Stickers
  4. Glitter
  5. Ribbon

5. Glue on the head and flippers.

Once the paint is dry, flip your paper plate over and glue the head and flippers onto the bottom of the paper plate. If you don’t like messing around with glue, a simple way to attach the pieces is to use double-sided tape instead.

6. Draw the eyes.

I used a black marker and drew the eyes onto the turtle. However a set of googly eyes would also look cute on your paper plate turtles.


Summer Activity pack for preschool and kindergarten. Printable Summer themed literacy, math, fine motor, games and art templates.

Summer Activity Pack

Get over 80+ pages of Summer themed play based learning activities and craft templates. Perfect for preschool and kindergarten.


Are you going to make this Paper Plate Turtle Craft with your kids?
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