Printable 3D Turtle Paper Craft for Kids – A ‘turtley’ perfect under the sea craft for kids this Summer!
Kids will love how the turtle heads POP from the page; stretching, bouncing and wobbling with movement.
This bobble head turtle craft is super easy to make, with its simple shapes to encourage even the smallest of hands to have a go at cutting for themselves.
See the craft in action!
This easy kids craft can be adapted and simplified for children of all ages and abilities. For example, replace the paper beach backdrop with a painted yellow and blue lines, or/and skip the accordion fold and simply glue the head directly to the body.
Materials for Printable 3D Turtle Paper Craft for Kids
Blue & White Card Stock
Yellow & Green Paper
Tissue Paper (optional)
Paint
Scissors
Glue Stick
How to Download the 3D Turtle Template
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How to Make the Printable 3D Turtle Craft for Kids
Before we get started, download and print the Turtle Template from the Arty Crafty Kids club.
Select ‘fit to page’ and print the template onto white card stock.
NB: Refer to your printer settings for a recommend weight. Most printers like the card stock to weigh under 220 gsm.
Step 1:
Let’s Prepare the Turtle Template
Start by filling the inner shell with paint or with a medium of your Arty Crafty Kids choice.
Kids’ may use the segments to doodle within, add scrunched up balls of tissue paper, cotton wool balls, buttons, paper and the list goes on!
Step 2:
Ask the Arty Crafty Kids to create the colour green by mixing yellow and blue.
Add more yellow than blue for a lighter shade of green or visa versa for a darker shade.
This is a great opportunity for little artists to explore colour mixing and playing with light and dark shades.
Fill the outer shell area with the new green colour. Either use the same shade of green for the face and legs or create a new one!
Step 3:
Creating a Paper Beach
Turtle Trivia:
“Female leatherbacks undertake the longest breeding migration of any turtle species, travelling up to 3,700 miles from their feeding grounds to the shore where they lay their eggs. Amazingly, females lay their eggs on the same shore where they themselves were born. It is a mystery how the turtles find this exact beach to return too”.
Source: www.sciencing.com
Cut a wavy line into the bottom of a piece of A4 yellow paper – this will create our ‘beach’.
Glue the beach to the bottom of the a piece of A4 blue card stock.
Step 4:
Use one of the remaining corners and cut out a rounded corner sun.
Step 5:
Use one the remaining edges of the yellow paper and cut out three narrow triangles.
Step 6:
Add the pieces of ‘sun’ to a top corner of the blue card stock.
You should now have a sunny beach canvas that’s ready for a turtle!
Step 7:
Now that the beach scene is ready, cut out the turtle elements!
Step 8:
Assembling the 3D Turtle
Begin by sticking the turtle shell to the beach scene.
Step 9:
Add legs, tucking the top of each leg under the shell.
Step 10:
The Accordion Fold & Bobble Head
Using scissors or a paper cutter, cut out two even strips of coloured paper (or card for a better bounce, however it’s trickier for kids to fold) – ideally, the strips will be fairly wide and for length, I recommend cutting the paper from the shortest side of an A4 piece of paper or longest side of a piece of card.
Take the two strips and position them in a 90° angle as shown above. Glue the connecting papers together.
Step 11:
Fold the bottom strip over the top and crease the fold along the edge. This will make the accordion fold tight!
Continue this process until all the is paper has been folded.
Seal the ends with glue.
Step 12:
Attach one of the end of folded paper to the bottom of the turtles shell.
Step 13:
Stick the turtle’s head to the other end of the accordion fold.
Printable 3D Turtle Paper Craft for Kids: Time to Play!
The accordion fold transforms into a stretchy neck, allowing the head to bobble and bounce with movement!
I hope your children have enjoyed the Printable 3D Turtle Paper Craft for Kids – here a few more interactive and fun crafts for kids to try next!
Making Kids Arts & Crafts Interactive and Fun
Children learn best when their having fun and we take our art and craft projects one step further with interactive elements to not just encourage creativity, but also play!
Bobble Head Crafts
Our bobble head paper crafts are attention grabbers; springing life into the kids’ creations with their wibbly wobbly features. Check out our swimming jellyfish and super cute polar bear, panda, lamb and bunny crafts.
Interactive Paper Plates
Interactive paper plate crafts are also great fun! kids are encouraged to create a scene for their puppet characters, whether its a goldfish bowl, pop-up chick/bunny or a boat at sea.
Hand and Finger Puppets
We also have a range of hand and finger puppets, from LEGO character puppets to Spooky Monsters, Unicorns in Pyjamas and Farm Yard Animals!
Happy Crafting!
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