MY TURTLE SHELL OF SAFETY – Child Protection Week – Mental Health Education Sel

Looking for a meaningful way to teach children about safety, boundaries, and emotional well-being? My Turtle Shell – Exploring What Keeps Me Safe Lesson & Craft is a powerful and creative activity designed to help young children explore what makes them feel safe – emotionally, physically, and socially. Using the metaphor of a turtle and its protective shell, this resource helps children reflect on their personal boundaries and identify their safe people, places, and calming strategies.

Perfect for Child Protection Week, mental health education, or social-emotional learning, our resource is developmentally appropriate, therapeutic, and engaging for young learners in counseling, classroom, or small group settings.

What’s Included in My Turtle Shell Lesson & Craft:

• Tip Sheet for Educators or Counselors: A helpful guide for introducing the turtle metaphor and facilitating sensitive conversations about safety.
• Printable 3D Turtle Craft Templates: Includes ocean-themed turtle base pages and multiple mandala shell designs for students to colour, cut, and assemble into a pop-up craft.
• Discussion Question Handout: Simple, open-ended prompts that help children identify what makes them feel safe and how to talk about their feelings.
• Lesson Plan: Clear, structured steps for introducing, facilitating, and wrapping up the activity.
• Therapeutic Story: A gentle, relatable story that helps children understand how to create their own “shell of safety.” Toby models emotional regulation, self-talk, and mindfulness in a way kids can easily connect with.
• Turtle Feelings Posters (Color & Black/White) – Use these expressive turtle posters for emotional check-ins and check-outs. Kids can point to or color how they’re feeling – perfect for daily routines, transitions, or calming corners.

Help children build their own 3D emotional “shells” of safety, support, and confidence – with a lesson they’ll remember.

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► Looking for more SEL workbook topics? We’ve got you covered!

• Behavior and Feelings Workbook
• Gossiping & Rumors Workbook for Teens 
• CBT Workbook – Thoughts Feelings Behaviors for Teenagers
• Self Esteem and Feelings Workbook
• Emotions & Self Care Workbook
• My Anger Management Workbook

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