Math fun with Turbo inspired Snail Races and more

I heard about this movie the day before my birthday and new instantly that it was the movie I wanted to watch for my birthday movie.  We went out for a late lunch to Mandarin for a Chinese Buffet and headed home to watch Turbo to celebrate.

I know... I know you probably think I am crazy for wanting to watch Turbo for my 42nd birthday but the snails in the trailer were just too cute! I couldn't help it.  You know what's even more funny? When we got home the girls weren't interested in watching it so Ian and I had a date night and watched Turbo all by ourselves!

 Here is a trailer for it...cute right?

So yesterday we had our own snail races but first we had to make our snails. If you would like to make your own snails here is what you need to do (stayed tuned at the end of the post for an idea using pet shop snails, other Turbo ideas and even more snail themed ideas too).

1) Gather your supplies:
-plasticine
-googly eyes
-shells
-pipe cleaners
-nail polish
-scissors and glue

You will also need masking tape, marker and dice if you want to make a track to have snail races.

2) Pick a shell to use and begin decorating it with nail polish. Set it aside to dry when finished.

3) Next take your plasticine and shape it into the body of a snail. Add on some large eyes.

To make the eyes, roll the plasticine into a ball, place a googly eye ontop of the ball and press it into the ball. The picture below shows one complete eye and one ball ready for the eye to be pushed into it.

4) When your shell is dry push it onto your plasticine snail body. It might need a dab of hot glue to hold it in place if your snail body is thin.

Sierra finishing up her snail she named: Turbo!

 5) You can now add on facial features like lips with more plasticine if you want. You could also just carve a mouth into the plasticine with the tip of a pencil if that is easier.

6) For added detail you can use pipe cleaner pieces to add on racing details.

 I also added on a plasticine intake air vent (like the one that Turbo got sucked into in the movie).

Aayla was visiting the neighbours when Sierra and I made these so Sierra made her a little baby snail for when she got home.

Our snail racing family portrait

7) To participate in the actual snail races all you need to do is lay down a start line, finish line and make a race track. We made ours in the hallway. I marked off each inch with a dot and added numerals for every 10 spaces.

8) Line your snails up at the start line, choose your dice and start your engines.

My snail AKA Pinkie Pie and Sierra's snail AKA Turbo line up at the starting line

 9) To play roll your dice. We used dice in dice by Learning Resources because they are two dice in one and are great for floor games because of their large size. With the roll of one dice shown below Sierra gets to move seven spaces (being inside each other prevents the dice from rolling away or knocking into game pieces too when using fro board games and other table games).

10) The race is on!

Sierra checking out who is in the lead and it's Turbo by a hair

Pinkie Pie is loosing :(

The Rainbow Banner Prize being guarded

11) Keep rolling and moving forward until the first person crosses the finish line. Sierra (Turbo) beat me (Pinkie Pie) by a hair! I was sooOoo close!

 All the spectators were so happy they got to see such an amazingly close race.

 12) Don't forget a trophy for the winner. Here is Turbo claiming her Rainbow Banner prize in the winners circle.

Turbo claiming her prize

 13) Don't forget to let all the devoted fans get their photos and autographs with the winner

I was amazed that Sierra liked this game so much. It might have had something to do with the luck of her rolls as she beat me 5 of the 6 times we played. We played using addition but it could easily be done to practice multiplication or even subtraction with these dice.

After an afternoon of creating these and having our races Sierra asked to watch the movie. As she watched it I edited pictures...and she Loved it...go figure!

If you aren't interested in making these snails but still like the math practice fun you can use some Littlest Pet Shop snails or any other small toy instead.

 

If you want to make your own but don't have any shells on hand you could make them with pasta shells like these:

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Or make your snails with pom poms instead of plasticine:

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Need inspiration for designing your snail? I found this cute online game where you can design your own Snail with this Shell Creator Game and save your picture. Here is the one we designed (and it was the inspiration for my snail Pinkie Pie I made for our races above).

If you are looking for some other Turbo related ideas THIS page has colouring pages, party invites, game boards to print, word searches and lots more.

Here's another colourinf page

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There is also an online puzzle you can do HERE although they are a bit challenging for younger kids.

We love snails at our house and Sierra often has a terrarium to observe a few. These real snail races would be a lot of fun this spring and I would think the food colouring would be harmless???

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You could make your own natural food colourings like these to be sure you aren't harming the snails.

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These spin art snails we made awhile ago are lots of fun too if you missed the DIY.

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Escargot is not my thing but these cute snails for snack would be a fun treat on race day.

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And if you are a really big fan of Turbo and want to dress up and have 'real' snail races how about making a costume like this amazing snail costume. It is absolutely adorable!

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So are you ready for the races yet?