Welcome to our “Turtle-riffic Turtle Week” – an at home camp filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to oh-so-adorable turtles! For our second day, we started learning about the types of turtles we’d focus on for the rest of the week – sea turtles! We learned all about characteristics of sea turtles, the different types of sea turtles, and some unique features that they have to help them navigate the waters! Read on to check out a fun filled day of learning, reading, crafts, and activities all on stunning sea turtles!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 Our relaxed & learning fun day kicks off with an introduction to the day’s theme. Then, we move onto videos and themed activities (reading, writing – or story telling – time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments). Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
Chances are, your little one has already seen a sea turtle or is familiar with them because of cartoons or popular movies. If not, these sites are great for quick facts or intros.
Speaking of resources, these are all GREAT sites dedicated to turtles with TONS of information and resources.
WHAT TO WATCH
We find that mixing in a short video themed to our day is a great way to add some learning fun! We try to pick informative videos OR mix in a cartoon favorite (where they don’t even realize they’re learning). Below are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- Sea Turtles 🐢 | Disney Animals | Disney Junior by Disney Junior (2m)
- Sea Turtle Week The Mini Series Episode 1: The Seven Species of Sea Turtles by Sea Turtle Week (6m)
- Sea Turtle Week The Mini Series Episode 3: Sea Turtle Predators by Sea Turtle Week (4m)
- WildKratts: S6E5 Tortuga Tune Up
- Octonauts and the Baby Sea Turtles S4E4
FOOD CRAFTS / SNACKS
What’s more fun than taking a break and having a simple snack??? Including the snack in your theme of the day! We find that our kiddos are more than happy to eat the snacks they create especially when they can arrange them into fun shapes and scenes!
For our snack of the day, we revisited a sugary favorite from our Learn & Play – Turtle Day! (our one day of turtle activities a while back). They’re simple to make with just 3 items: green jello, green construction paper, and a small container (Plastic Food Portion Cup or mini food storage container). Make the jello per the instructions & fill the container. Then cut out a few turtle shapes using the green construction paper. Once the jello is set, add on top of the green paper turtle as a shell 🙂
READING
It’s no secret that reading is an important part of learning, which is why we pick out a handful of books that are fun and filled with some learning tidbits. For our older ones, we have them fill out some worksheets (or let them create some of their own comics) to describe what they read and/or learned! These are a few we picked from for the day:
- Sea Turtles (Level 2) by Laura Marsh. This is a Level 2 Book from the National Geographic Series. It’s great for early readers – large text & pictures
- Ocean Animals for Kds by Bethanie and Josh Hestermann. This is a Junior Scientist Book. It’s a great book for slightly older kids looking for more facts and non-fiction .
- The Sea Turtle Mystery (The Boxcar Children Mysteries) by by Gertrude Chandler Warner
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing is a great way to keep kids learning by both encouraging their creativity and thought process as well as helping them practice their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: TURTLE, SHELL, SEA
If you’ve got older children, have them write a sentence or two up to a page or two (depending on their age). Encourage them to be creative AND give reasons for why they made certain choices. This was our writing prompt of the day (and we offered up some examples as well) but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- If you could see any type of sea turtle in real life, which one would it be and why?
- Imagine you were a baby turtle who had just hatched! Describe your journey back to the water.
CREATE & CRAFT
If you’ve got a crafty little one, a simple craft is a great way to keep them interested in the topic. While their creative juices are flowing, you can also chat about what they’ve learned so far or ask them what else they’re excited about learning!
For our crafts of the day, we gave them a few options that would help them enhance their pretend play or add in some of what they learned:
- Easy How to Draw a Sea Turtle Tutorial Video and Sea Turtle Coloring Page by Art Projects for Kids
- Turtle Paddleball Craft Kit by Creatology (Michaels)
STEM & STEAM ACTIVITIES
While crafting and writing get their creativity and imagination flowing, we also like to add in an activity that gets them thinking along the lines of science, technology, engineering, or math! These engaging activities or experiments are a great way to keep them learning!
Our STEM Activity related to a sea turtle’s ability to navigate back to the beach they were born in – using magnetism! Below are a few useful links to help explain the concepts:
- Turtle Travel Tips: How Magnets Can Help Us Navigate | Magnetoreception by SciShow Kids (4m)
- How do sea turtles navigate? – CrowdScience, BBC World Service by BBC World Service (3m)
AND the two links below are great experiments that can be performed without a turtle 🙂
- Use Magnetic Fields To Navigate Like A Sea Turtle by Science Friday
- 2 Amazing Turtle Science Fair Projects: Explore Feeding & Navigation! by STEM Geek
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for checking out our at home learning fun article! If you enjoyed this post, please let us know what you think in the comments below and/or follow us on Pinterest
Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of our other Turtle Week Posts or Turtle Ideas, as well as our DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
