Yarn turtle craft

Here’s a fun and easy yarn turtle craft kids can make using our DIY pom pom maker plus a free printable template.

They’re made using the same technique as our fluffy-tum pandas and also our popular pom pom hedgehogs.

You might also like these yarn crafts for kids

This turtle craft combines a beautiful ocean animal with two of my favourite craft materials, yarn and paper. By my logic that makes them three times as fun to make!

Yarn turtles are a fun afternoon craft you can do with kids of all ages at the end of the day (maybe after a long morning of homeschooling), or on the weekend.

The finished turtles make a nice shelf decoration or a DIY toy animal to incorporate into small world or imaginary play.

The template is best printed onto card stock. I’ve left the turtle shape blank so kids can get creative and decorate each turtle craft with their own unique pattern. To make life easy, I’ve included the medium-sized pom pom maker template in the same digital download as the free turtle template. Put your email address in the space provided and it will be sent to you.

How to make a pom pom turtle

You will need

• Yarn (medium to thick ply) in your choice of turtle shell colour
• Card stock in your choice of turtle body colour
• Felt tip markers
• Small scrap of white paper to draw the eyes – or you could use our free printable googly eyes
• Scissors

How to

1. Print the turtle template onto card stock. Decorate the flippers and head with a turtle pattern using your felt tip markers (optional)
2. Draw a pair of eyes on the scrap of white paper. Cut them out and glue them in place.
3. Use the template provided to create a meduim sized pom pom maker from heavy card stock.
4. Wrap yarn around and around the pom pom maker until you have a nice, plump, bundle of it. Tie around the center and slide the bundle of yarn off the cardboard. Tie the centre a second time as tight as you can.
5. Attach the pom pom to the paper base by slotting the yarn into the side slits and tying it in a knot. Give it a trim to tidy up and shape the shell how you like it.

Simple as that. These turtles are off to go swimming on the reef!

More fun yarn crafts kids can make

• Learn how to finger knit with this easy step-by-step tutorial
• These woven yarn butterflies are made using a basic god’s eye technique
• Make some DIY braided yarn dolls as a fun DIY toy
• We also have a tutorial for some yarn doll ghosts for Halloween
• Don’t throw away your pom pom trimmings! Use them to make fluffy hair pet rocks