Today I have a hands-on way to show a sea turtle life cycle activity. Add my fun From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study & Lapbook to make it for multiple ages.
This sea turtle life cycle activity lets your child create a unique art project while also including some marine science in their lessons.
Gather up a few supplies including a book or two and sit down with your little ones to create the full life cycle and then use it as a tool to teach as well.
Ocean Anatomy gives a simple overview of different types of sea turtles as well as their life cycle, and some conservation information.
It is a great book to add to your library for all its wonderful content.
7 Facts about Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity
- Baby turtles use a small tooth called a caruncle to break out of the shell before heading to the water.
- Once they are fully grown, they go back to where they were born to mate and start the cycle all over again.
- The female sea turtle climbs ashore, digs a body pit and nest (or egg chamber), lays her eggs, and then covers the nest with sand.
- It takes about six or seven weeks after being laid for the hatchlings to emerge and then head to the water.
- Most species nest several times during a nesting season, every 2-4 years.
- While it is not known exactly how long sea turtles live in the wild, scientists believe that their life span may be as long as a century.
- There is not much known about their first few years. During the time they head to sea as newly hatched babies until they return to coastal shallow waters, up to 20 years. They are called the lost years because not much is known about this period in their life cycle.
Then add a few more resources to your marine life study.
Resources to Study the Sea Turtle Life Cycle
Fun Sea Turtle Resources
Add some books about sea turtles and hands-on resources to your lesson or unit study to bring it to life.
Sea turtles are fascinating. Hatched from eggs smaller than a baseball, some can grow to weigh over a thousand pounds. Once adults, they can live to be around 100 years old. And when it's time to nest, they migrate more than 1,000 miles. With colorful, clear illustrations and straightforward text, Gail Gibbons introduces the eight kinds of sea turtles living in the ocean today. Learn the similarities and differences with labeled diagrams and experience the hatching of the tiny turtle babies with detailed illustrations. This updated edition now includes the most up-to-date information about these beloved reptiles, as reviewed by an expert vetter in the field of herpetology.
Celebrating the love between mother and child comes an achingly beautiful story that has captured hearts around the world. Written by a new mom, by accident, when she sang a little song to her fussing newborn, I'll Follow the Moon proudly donates proceeds to charity: every book saves a turtle.
Follow Rothman’s inquisitive mind and perceptive eye along shorelines, across the open ocean, and below the waves for an artistic exploration of the watery universe. Through her drawings, discover how the world’s oceans formed, why the sea is salty, and the forces behind oceanic phenomena such as rogue waves. Colorful anatomical profiles of sea creatures from crustacean to cetacean, surveys of seafaring vessels and lighthouses, and the impact of plastic and warming water temperatures are just part of this compendium of curiosities that will entertain and educate readers of all ages.
Who could resist celebrating sea turtles? They may seem like lazy ocean reptiles drifting with the oceans’ currents, but they are actually long-distance swimmers that spend their entire lives searching for food and a mate. What’s more, they come with their own built-in GPS, returning to the exact beach where they were born to lay their own eggs. Kids will learn all about these tranquil and mysterious animals through brilliant photography and illustrations, plus the trusted and distinctive content you love from NG Kids!
A book that tells how turtles survive with the help of protection programs.
The book's pithy, well-organized sections are lavishly illustrated. It is a guide for anyone who is the least bit curious about these fascinating marine animals. Bite-sized installments harmonize with multiple images on each page to make this book a unique and entertaining resource. The story it tells covers understanding, experiencing, and saving our sea turtles, with descriptions of how these endangered animals contribute to our happiness and why they deserve a helping hand.
The mother turtle has a vital job to do: dig a nest in which she will lay eggs that will hatch into part of the next generation of leatherbacks. With only one in a thousand of the eggs for this critically endangered species resulting in an adult sea turtle, the odds are stacked against her and her offspring.
Children can see how animals change and grow. Realistic detail showing a different stage in the development of animals.
Uniquely molded textures and richly painted details bring them to life and help inspire creativity for kids.
It is a great way to expand the growth with children through physical science.
A triumphant story of environmental activism, community, and friendship: Acclaimed activist Philippe Cousteau and renowned author Deborah Hopkinson team up to offer a story of the powerful difference young people can make in the world. Meet Viv, who has a new home and a new school by the sea and follow her as she finds her way in a new place and helps bring together a whole community to save the sea turtles of the South Carolina coast.
Describes the life cycle of sea turtles discussing reproduction, birth, and adult life.
Next, look at these videos
More Sea Turtle Resources
Also, add more hands-on learning ideas.
- Fun Homeschool Unit Study Egg to Sea Turtle Lesson Plans & Lapbook
- Sea Turtle Life Cycle Small World Play
- Sea Turtle Life Cycle Flextangles
- Cutest Ever Egg Carton Sea Turtle Craft and Learning Activities for Kids
- Montessori Sea Turtle Activities
- Clay Sea Turtle Art Project For Kids
Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity
You will need:
- Cardboard egg carton
- Green and white craft paint
- Green cardstock, construction paper, or craft foam
- Black permanent marker
- Scissors
- Hot glue or craft glue
Cut out 5 cups from your egg carton (more if you want several eggs for the “nest”).
Paint 3 cups with various shades of green to make them unique, let your child add spots, etc.
Paint the remaining two cups white.
Allow all the paint to dry completely. While you are waiting, cut out 3 sets of 4 fins from green paper making them in 3 different sizes.
Set 1 white one to the side and leave it alone, this is an unhatched egg.
Cut one of the green cups down to a little more than half its size and glue it into the other white cup to create a hatching baby. You can even distress the egg a bit to show he is breaking it open.
Draw on little black eyes with a marker and glue the smallest fins as if he is pushing his way out of the egg.
Cut the second green cup down by about ⅓” and glue the medium-sized paper fins into place beneath the cup and add eyes. This is your juvenile turtle.
Finally, add the largest fins to the largest green cup and add eyes for your adult sea turtle.
They are ready to be a cute part of your lessons.
To give a better understanding of the life cycle you can use blue and beige paper or even sand if you have it placed on a tray to represent the water and sand.
Once you have that set up it is easy peasy to demonstrate the life cycle of sea turtles.
Share how sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach then head back to the water, then the babies hatch and head for the water until they are grown, and the cycle starts all over again.
