Homemade Sea Turtle Stamps
I am so excited to be a part of this series on Rainy Day Mum. Living in Florida and in love with the ocean, I knew this Ocean Themed Week would be a perfect fit. My name is Kim Vij and I am the co-creator of The Educators’ Spin On It. You can also find me as part of the trio team of organizers of the Virtual Book Club for Kids. I adore creating activities with books and in fact shared a post about it with Cerys many years ago called Creating Activities for Books. I’A Book and activity can be so much fun for kids. I’ve selected one of my favorite ocean books to share with you.
We have provided links to the books and resources we used in this activity. If you buy via the links we may earn a small commission.
The book we’re sharing is called Sea Turtle Journey: The Story of a Loggerhead Turtle by Lorraine A. Joy It has been a treasured story with each of my 3 children and many years of Kindergarten students. It’s part of the Smithsonian Oceanic Collection Series. I must mention that we also have the audio tape too which makes it so much more special to us. There’s something quite mystical about sea turtles. Have you ever seen a sea turtle in real life? We’ve been fortunate to see them at Sea World and also out in the waters of Florida near the shore. Plus each time we head to the beach usually they will have a part of the beach sectioned off with markers where a turtle has laid their eggs. One full moon night I hope to be able to watch as all the hatchlings head off to see and begin their own journey just like in the story.
Sea Turtle Journey is a story about one special sea turtle full journey in from birth to its return back to the shore where it was born to lay her own eggs. The book includes the sea turtles adventures out in the wide open ocean sea and all the various situations that may arise from finding food to avoiding predators. It’s a vocabulary rich text with captivating images as well.
Find more sea turtle books for toddlers and preschoolers to read on our site handpicked by a marine biologist, teacher, and mum and if you are looking to explore the life cycle further then check out our book list for kids on the sea turtle life cycle.
After reading the story we decide to create our own little baby sea turtles. Can image what it must look like with all the sea turtle hatching?
Read Next: Sea Turtle Creature Study Kids
Sea Turtle Stamping Activity
Supplies Needed for One Turtle
First we created our sea turtle by taking a lid and attaching a pipe cleaner around it to form the head. Then we took smaller pieces to create each of the 4 turtle flippers. We discussed how in the story the front two flippers were very large to help with swimming.
Then we placed paint into a large tray and dipped our sea turtle to make sea turtle stamps. Keep a wet cloth nearby finger will get a little messy while stamping. You have to push on the legs a little bit to make sure they show up on the paper too.
One the sea turtle stamps were dry we took the same paper and painted the ocean on the paper. For our own special sea turtle mural inspired by the book Sea Turtle Journey.
Sea Turtles of the World Workbook
An 8 page workbook for kids to learn about the 7 species of Sea Turtles in the world, with information and activities.
Extensions for Sea Turtle Activity
If you have a little one who loves to stamp turtles you could even create a number book featuring numbers 0 to 10 using the stamps that they create too.
We did keep a special sea turtle out of the paint so that they could use it for imaginary play in their ocean sensory bin too. There are so many fun things you can do with sea turtles and your child. Cerys shared a fun Sticky Sea Turtle Craft that I think your kids will love. Plus take a peek at these create Sea Turtle Crafts shared on Pinterest.
More Ocean Themed Arts and Crafts for Kids
Here are some additional Ocean Activities that your child may enjoy too.
Kim Vij is an early childhood educator and mom of three.
She shares her “Educator’s Spin” on parenting issues and how to make everyday moments into learning opportunities at The Educators’ Spin On It and award winning Pinterest Boards.
Kim from The Educators' Spin On It
Kim Vij is an early childhood educator and mom of three.
She shares her “Educator’s Spin” on parenting issues and how to make everyday moments into learning opportunities at The Educators’ Spin On It and award winning Pinterest Boards.
Thanks Trisha! We had a lot of fun making the turtles and using them to stamp. If you can get your hands on it the audio version of this story is really good. Love the sound effects from the Sea that they’ve incorporated. This book I bought when my son was very young so it’s been quite a few years. What are your favorite Sea Turtle Books Cerys and Trisha?
I love reading good books about sea turtles. I don’t think I’ve read this one, so I’ll have to hunt it down. The stamping craft is such a good idea, and the little turtle is so cute!