The top of a turtle’s shell (or carapace) is covered with bony scales (called scutes) that have color patterns that help the turtle blend in with its habitat. Turtles are mostly slow movers so they need to be good hiders! You and your child can put your camouflaging skills to the test by creating your own turtle shells and hiding them.

• Collect paper bowls and something to cover them with. We used tissue paper squares and glue, but you could use paint, markers, tissue paper, or even found natural items like leaves and sticks.
• Decorate your turtle shell bowls so that they can blend in with a natural environment. We smeared glue all over our bowl and then added the tissue paper squares. We wanted to hide ours in the grass so we used greens and browns. You can also look at pictures of turtle carapaces for inspiration!
• If you want to complete the turtle look, you can use construction paper to make a head, limbs, and a tail- just tape these inside the rim of the bowl so that they stick out.
• Take your turtle shells outside and take turns hiding them with your child. We had fun making up stories about why the “turtles” were hiding different places- one was going to a friend’s house, another was trying to slide down the hill, etc.

Have fun playing hide and seek with your turtle shells!