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KINGSTON TWP. — A group of toddlers had a shell of a time Saturday as they learned all about turtles at Frances Slocum State Park.

Kathy Kelchner, an environmental educator with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, held a “Turtles for Tots” event at the park’s amphitheater, bringing roughly two dozen tots and their families to learn all about the cold-blooded reptiles.

The children learned all about different types of turtles, their biology and habitats, among other interesting facts.

Kelchner started off the event by showing a replica of the painted turtle, which is the park’s most common turtle. As the replica was passed around, children noticed it’s red paint-like marks around the bottom of the shell that gives the turtle its name. Speaking of shells, Kelchner then asked the group if a turtle could leave its shell.

“When I was little like you, my grandma said that turtles can crawl in and out of their shells,” she said. “They can’t do that! Turtles can never crawl in and out of their shells.”

While many people like to say that a turtle’s shell is their home, it’s not necessarily true. A turtle’s shell is a part of its body, she said while showing the group a shell with bones underneath.

Another myth Kelchner busted for the kids was that turtles can snap their shells shut. With the help of 3 year-old Johney Johnson, she explained to the group that most turtles are incapable of closing their shells together as Johnson tried with all his might to push a shell together. In fact, the only turtle that can fully close its shells together is the box turtle, she said.

When the group was done discussing turtles, it was time to make some.

Gathering at a nearby picnic table, Kelchner gave each child a turtle of their very own to color. Each reptile came with its own moving legs, head and tail that parents and children could assemble together and use to help them “hide when danger’s near.”

Piece-by-piece children picked an array of colors for their own turtle’s shell and body, then with the help of an adult were able to fasten the pieces together.

As four year-old Kahlan Stephens, of Dallas, was coloring her turtle shell, her mom, Jessica, talked about coming to the event.

Stephens said she saw the event through the Macaroni Kid Facebook Page and decided it would be exciting for her daughter, and so they came.

“It’s good. (Kelchner’s) entertaining,” she said. “She knows how to work with kids.”

Once everyone was done with their creations, the group met at the amphitheatre, where each child was given the opportunity to “pop” out of their own shell.

Placing an empty cardboard box in the center of the group, Kelchner offered each tot the chance to come up and jumped into the box. After reciting a short rhyme, the group would ask the child to pop out, which they did excitedly.

The event ended with a short story about a box turtle spending their day at Long Pond, and each child was given a special turtle poster to take home with them.

Kingston resident Emma Marek brought her two daughters Delilah, 5, and Caroline, 2, to the event. An admitted “regular attender” at park events, Marek said the groups are always enjoyable for the whole family.

“It’s great for kids,” she said. “It’s educational, but it’s a lot of fun, too.”

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Kathy Kelchner, DNCR, right, instructs the children to line up in a single file demonstrating how turtles lay on each other in the sun.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_tutles3.jpg.optimal.jpgKathy Kelchner, DNCR, right, instructs the children to line up in a single file demonstrating how turtles lay on each other in the sun. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Madison Miner, 11, shows sisters Caroline Marek, 2, and Delilah, 5, what a turtle shell feels like.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_tutles2.jpg.optimal.jpgMadison Miner, 11, shows sisters Caroline Marek, 2, and Delilah, 5, what a turtle shell feels like. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Kathy Kelchner, DCNR, shows the vertebrae of a turtle to the children gathered for an educational program on turtles at Frances Slocum State Park.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_turtles1.jpg.optimal.jpgKathy Kelchner, DCNR, shows the vertebrae of a turtle to the children gathered for an educational program on turtles at Frances Slocum State Park. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

By Marcella Kester

For Times Leader

Reach the Times Leader newsroom at 570-829-7242 or on Twitter @TLnews.