My children are fascinated with sea turtles. Those enormous reptiles that drift peacefully for thousands of miles on the ocean currents, observing the world with gentle eyes, have captured their hearts. If your kids feel the same way, they might enjoy making themselves a pet turtle to play with in the bathtub or pool, or to take for walks in the rain puddles!  You just need a 2-liter bottle, string, a sturdy needle, and something for the body – craft foam would work, or you can substitute something similar that you already have.

turtle 

turtle 

1. cut the bottom off your plastic bottle.

2. trace its shape on the foam and draw half-circles for the head and legs (or flippers if its a sea turtle), and a little triangle for the tail

3. punch holes around the bottle’s outline, and sew the bottle on to the foam, as pictured.

4. decorate your new friend!

Loggerhead sea turtles are our favorite -. they are named that because their oversized heads sort of look like a big logs. They can crush conchs, horseshoe crabs, and other hard-shelled animals with their powerful jaws, but they also eat softer foods like jellyfish, fish, and seaweed. Loggerheads take 35 years to become full-grown and able to have babies, and they only lay eggs (about 100 at a time) every 2 to 4 years.  If you’d like to explore further, National Geographic Kids has a great page dedicated to these beautiful, endangered creatures here.