Sea Turtles Drawing & Painting Lesson

This sea turtle drawing & painting art project was inspired by this Under-the-Sea Chalk Lesson.

To keep the project manageable for first graders, I used just one sea creature–turtles– but switched up mediums. My first graders used oil pastels and cake/puck tempera paints to create these beautiful sea turtles.

This art project is part of the Art at Home series of Facebook Live video replays.

Follow along with Patty for a full demonstration of this project:

This is what you’ll need:

– 12″ x 18″ white sulphite paper

– Cake or puke tempera paint

– Black oil pastel

– White school glue, brush & glitter (optional)

Sea Turtles Drawing

You can display a few pictures of sea turtles on the white board. I offered my students both a handout and some drawing instruction. We talked about what they could include in the background of their pictures. I told a story of how I saw sea turtles while snorkeling in Maui. I noticed that the turtles loved to hide under the huge rocks and swim amongst the plants. We added a few rocks, some seaweed and a few other fish.

Painting the Turtle

Once the children painted the ocean color on the background, I asked them to paint the turtle. Remind the children to pick a color other than the background so the turtle will stand out.

Many kids used lots of paint colors in their turtles, while others created a more subdued palette. To add a special touch, we brushed glue on a few areas and sprinkled with glitter. I know. You don’t need this but we had a few extra moments and the glitter was just sitting there.

Want a free drawing guide? Click the image below and we’ll send you our Sea Turtle and Fish Drawing Guide PDF!