Turtles!

This is a slightly altered idea I got from the book Alphabet Art by Judy Press.
She has some other books and are are filled with great ideas and activities for kids. I showed my boys some of the projects in this book and the turtle is the one they chose.
Supplies are simple: construction paper, a paper plate, stapler, scissors, and something to decorate the shell with. My little ones picked glitter glue and crayons.
First the outer half inch or so of the plate needs to be cut off. I did this for them.
Next up, decorate! (In the book they cut the slit you will see below and staple it before decorating. I thought my kids would have an easier time decorating with a flatter plate.)
While the little ones are busy embellishing, cut out a head, 4 legs and a tail. I also drew on eyes, a mouth and toes. If you child is capable enough, this is something they can do.
They did add their own touches once I was done with the initial face.
When you child is done with decorating the shell, cut a slit in it that goes about to the middle of the plate.
Then overlap it a little (this raised the plate into a more shell-like form) and then staple. Also staple on the head, tail and legs.
And you are done! Now you can read a book or two about turtles and have a snack.
We happened to have a Franklin book on the shelf and I read it to the boys. There are many in the series (as you can see in the picture). The author is Paulette Bourgeois.
To accompany our project and story were some apple turtles with some caramel dip.