Sea Turtle Template and Coloring Craft Printable

Use the free printable turtle template to create your own adorable sea turtles. This craft is perfect for preschool and lower elementary kids!

This craft is a color and cut, so it works very well for younger kids. Preschool or elementary school teachers can pair this with a read aloud like Yoshi, Sea Turtle Genius or One Tiny Turtle. It’s a great way to talk about the life cycle of these endangered species!

This fun craft also works in a unit about sea animals as a way to build fine motor skills. It’s a fun way to match shapes, practice scissor and glueing skills, and work on coloring in the lines.

Start by printing out the two free sea turtle coloring pages. One should have a turtle outline, and the other should have the pieces of  the turtle’s body. 

Color the pieces of the turtle’s body. You can make several different species of sea turtle just by changing the colors. Loggerhead turtles are completely brown, shell and all. Green sea turtles have a green head and flippers, but the turtle’s shell is brown. Kids can also different colors to make their own adorable sea turtles.

Cut out the colored pieces. You should have a head, 2 front flippers, 2 back flippers, and a turtle shell.

Match the shape of the cut-outs to the sea turtle outline. Glue them down to create your beautiful turtle! As a tip, glue the shell on last so that it covers the edges of the other pieces. That makes your own sea turtle craft look more polished. 

This last step is optional — color around your marine turtle to create a habitat. Is he swimming through a kelp forest? Hanging out on the beach? Gliding along the bottom of the sea? This is also a great opportunity to talk about natural environment of different species of sea turtles

A few fun turtle facts

• Sea turtles have been around longer than the dinosaurs! They evolved around the same time, but didn’t die off and still are around today.
• Green sea turtles get their color from eating seagrasses and algae. 
• Sea turtles’ favorite food is jellyfish. They have special spines in their mouth that keep the jellyfish from stinging them.
• Sea turtles can’t hide in their shells. Their heads and flippers are always out!

More Turtle Resources

If you’re looking for more sea turtle crafts or a collection of sea turtle coloring pages, these are some great additions: 

• Free Printable Sea Turtle Coloring Pages: There are tons of coloring sheets to choose from here, including a realistic sea turtle coloring page, and some with detailed patterns that older students might love.
• Woven Turtle Craft: If you want to take this up a notch, this God’s eye-style craft uses yarn weaving to create adorable turtles! 
• Paper Plate Sea Turtle: Paint, cut, and glue to make paper plate turtles. 
• Easy Hatching Turtle Craft: This simple craft allow your student to make hatching baby sea turtles! Kids can then use their little turtle to act out the march to the sea.