How to Make a Clay Sea Turtle

Last Updated: December 23, 2021

In this wikiHow you will learn how to make a sea turtle figure from green clay. You can decorate the turtle how you want with any materials. This activity is part of the Ocean Conservation virtual quests from the WCS Queens Zoo.

Part 1

Part 1 of 5:

Making the Shell

1
Gather your materials. This sea turtle only needs clay, but materials such as markers and pens can be used to draw a design on the sea turtle.
- It is suggested that you use around 3.5 ounces or 100 grams of clay.
2
Take the amount of clay that you would want as the size of the turtle shell. The size of the shell will affect the size and shape of the parts. Don't use more than 2/3 of your clay for the shell.
- Create a ball from the clay that you took and squish it a little to make it flat.
Advertisement
3

Create a point. Use your fingers to pinch the edge of the clay to make it have a point on one edge of the shell.
4
Create a space for the head. Push the clay to make it flat on the other side without the point to make space for the head.
- Use the same method to make space for the arms on the sides of the head.
Advertisement

Part 2

Part 2 of 5:

Making the Head

1

Create a ball from the clay that would be the size for the head.
2

Pinch the clay to make the front of the face longer.
3

Indent the sides of the face to put the eyes by pushing down on it to form a small hole.
4

Try to create a mark for the place where the mouth would be.
5
Take two small pieces of clay and create two balls.
- These will be used as the eyes.
6

Attach the eyes. Flatten the eyes to fit the head and attach them to the area where you put the indent.
7

Attach the head to the top of the shell without the point.

Advertisement

Part 3

Part 3 of 5:

Making the Arms

1

Take two pieces of the clay and form it into two thick noodles.
2
Bend each piece of clay to the right and squish the part that was bent.
- Make the pieces flatter by squishing them again.
3
Add ridges to the sides of the arms. Squish the arms and make marks on the side that the bend is pointing towards.
- There should be three parts with two indents on each arm.
4

Place the arms on the shell on both sides under the head. The part where it is bent should be the side that is connected to the shell. It should bend towards the body. Make sure you do it quickly since the clay will dry.

Advertisement

Part 4

Part 4 of 5:

Making the Hind Legs

1
Get the clay for the legs. The legs will be smaller than the front arms, so you will need two smaller pieces of clay to create the back legs.
- You will use around half of the size of the clay from the arms. Use the pieces to create two thick noodles.
2

Bend the legs to the right and make them flat.
3

Add ridges to the legs. Pinch the other side of the legs, that are not bent, to add four ridges.
4

Squish the ridges to create the texture.
5

Place the legs to the back of the shell with the bent part attached to the shell. Make sure you do it quickly since the clay will dry.
6

Take a small piece of clay and make a thin noodle. This part will be the tail.
7

Put the tail on the back of the shell.

Advertisement

Part 5

Part 5 of 5:

Decorating Your Sea Turtle

1

Congratulations! You made a sea turtle! Now you can use the other materials you have to customize the sea turtle figure. You can draw a mouth for the face as shown in the image while it is your decision to decorate it.

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

How to Make a Clay Sea Turtle

Steps

Making the Shell

Making the Head

Making the Arms

Making the Hind Legs

Decorating Your Sea Turtle

Expert Q&A

You Might Also Like

References

About this article

Did this article help you?

About this article

You Might Also Like

Explore Categories