How to Draw a Sea Turtle (Easy Step-by-Step for Kids)
To draw a sea turtle, start with a big oval shell and a round head on top. Add two big front flippers, two small back flippers and a pointed tail. Finish with a smiling face and a pattern of plates on the shell.
- Steps
- 8 easy steps
- You need
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Black marker
- Green, light brown and dark brown crayons
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Teaching this to a class?
Show one step at a time on the board and wait for the class before the next. The directed drawing for kids page explains how to run it.
How to draw a sea turtle step by step
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Step 1 of 8: Draw one big oval for the shell, a little taller than it is wide.
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Step 2 of 8: Add a round head on top of the shell. Let its bottom tuck behind the shell line.
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Step 3 of 8: Draw two big front flippers at the upper sides of the shell, curving out and down to rounded tips.
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Step 4 of 8: Add two small back flippers at the lower sides of the shell, pointing down and out.
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Step 5 of 8: Draw a short pointed tail at the bottom middle of the shell.
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Step 6 of 8: Add two round black eyes with a white shine dot each and a small smile on the head.
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Step 7 of 8: Draw two hexagons stacked in the middle of the shell. Join their corners to the edge with 8 lines.
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Step 8 of 8: Color head, flippers and tail green, hexagons and middle side plates light brown, rest dark brown.
Tips for little artists
Tip: Press lightly with the pencil first. Trace the lines you like with the marker, then erase the rest.
Tip: Make the front flippers much longer than the back flippers, just like in the steps above.
Tip: Draw the two middle hexagons first, then join their corners to the shell edge with straight lines.
Make it yours
Ocean scene
Draw wavy water lines and a few round bubbles around your sea turtle.
Baby and big turtle
Draw a second, smaller sea turtle next to yours with the same shapes.
Starfish friend
Draw a small starfish near one of the back flippers.
Common mistakes and easy fixes
The flippers look like short legs
Make each front flipper long and flat with a rounded tip, like a paddle.
The head looks pulled into the shell
Draw the head as a full round circle on top, with only its bottom tucked behind the shell.
The shell pattern looks messy
Draw the two hexagons first and keep every line from them straight.
Fun facts about the sea turtle
Sea turtles live most of their lives in the ocean, but adult females lay their eggs on land. (Source: NOAA Fisheries)
A sea turtle's large front flippers act like paddles, while its smaller back flippers help it steer. (Source: Smithsonian Ocean)
The green sea turtle is named for the greenish color of its skin, not its shell, which is normally brown or olive. (Source: National Geographic)
Questions grown-ups ask
How to draw a sea turtle easy?
Start with a big oval shell and a round head on top. Add four flippers, a pointed tail, a face and two hexagons with lines on the shell.
How to draw a sea turtle for kids?
Follow the 8 steps above, adding one new part at a time. Color the head, flippers and tail green and the shell in two browns.
How to draw a sea turtle cute?
Give it a big round head with two black eyes, white shine dots and a small smile. Rounded flippers keep it soft and friendly.
If your shell lines came out a little wobbly, that's fine. Your sea turtle is ready to swim across the page. More easy drawings for kids are on the home page.