Kids are going to love creating gorgeous 3D turtle doodle art with a shell that really ‘pops’.
This is a fun summer art project and a great way to support kids learning about ocean animals or reptiles.
Sea turtles are one of the ocean’s many fascinating creatures. Some species can grow to 2m long and live for a hundred years!
Now kids can design a sea turtle with a gorgeous doodle-art-patterned shell.
There’s lots of ways to put your own creative spin on this project. For a realistic effect, print the body to green card stock decorate with turtle skin markings. Print the shell to a brown or different shade of green and create patterns with black or green sharpie markers.
For a zany, bright coloured effect, print the template to white card stock and go crazy with your patterning.
The patterning part is totally up to you!
The craft is recommended for ages 7 and up. Younger kids can still make it (it’s very easy) but they may not have the patience for patterning and may find it easier to straight-up colour the turtle and leave the body parts plain.
Older kids and adults can create more complex patterns with finer tip pens.
Here’s how to make it.
How to create 3D Turtle Doodle Art
You will need
- The template printed to card stock. It’s available from our printables store and our TPT store
- An extra sheet of card stock in a colour of your choice for the backing page
- Markers for doodling – Thick washable markets are best for younger kids, for older kids you can use finer tip markers or sharpies
- Scissors
- Glue stick
How to
Print the template as per the instructions in the download.
Decorate the turtle shell with doodle patterns. Do the same for the turtle flippers and head, but leave the body blank.
Cut the shapes and support strips out.
Glue the turtle flippers and head onto the body in the appropriate marked sections.
Glue the body onto the base page at an angle. One of the front flippers can overlap the edge of the page.
Fold and glue the support strips into squares.
Glue the support squares onto the back of the shell, and the shell onto the body so the top flat piece of shell lines up with the head and neck.
Now go and hang your gorgeous turtle artwork on the wall!
More ocean animal craft ideas
- Our paper plate ocean animals collection contains the templates to make 14 different marine animals with fascinating facts about each one
- Make a light-up tissue paper jellyfish craft
- Upcycle an egg carton into a tropical reef craft that doubles as a nightlight
Here are over 40 Pattern Art Projects for Kids
Check out more of our doodle art printables
