This was such an easy, fun way to review our Watermelon education we did a couple of weeks ago {here}. As we painted, we would use the correct terms to describe the parts. At one point JR said, “I’m painting the flesh red because the watermelon’s flesh is red.” Both of the boys (2 & 4) really enjoyed it…I bet your kids will too.
Supplies Needed:
- Coffee Filters
- Red & Green Paint
- Paint brushes
- A cup of water
- 1 small piece of black construction paper
- 1 Hole Punch
- Wax Paper
- Drop cloth or Cardboard
First, lay a drop cloth or cardboard down to protect your table. The paint REALLY soaks right through the coffee filters. Next, demonstrate how to paint the rind green and the flesh red. Asher painted his entire coffee filter green and then I helped him paint the red flesh over it at the end. John Robert experimented with using both the green paint and a green marker to make the rind the perfect shade of green.
When you are finished, move the coffee filter onto the wax paper. If you don’t have a drop cloth or cardboard, you could probably paint the coffee filter directly on the wax paper.
If you do have cardboard, this is the beautiful art you have as a bi-product to the Coffee Filter Watermelons. Pretty, huh?
Next, the boys took turns punching the seeds out of the black paper. It was the first time either of them had used the hole punch. JR was very efficient with it, but Asher needed my help to squeeze it hard enough to punch the paper.
Asher’s little face was so cute when he was gluing the seeds to his watermelon. Every ounce of concentration showed up in his facial expressions. I could have watched that face all day.
After they posed for a picture, we hung the watermelons in our school room window. JR said, “They’re like snowflakes.” :) I guess the only other thing we’ve hung in our window were snowflakes so he saw the correlation between the two. I love the glow of the sun shining through the semi-transparent coffee filter. It adds a little festivity to our room.
Very cute! Love watermelon!
What a neat idea! We did one last year with tissue paper and paper plates (great for an early introduction to fractions):
http://itsybitsylearners.blogspot.com/2010/08/watermelon-collage.html
I bought a watermelon the other day…maybe your boys need to come over to extend their lesson a little more ;)
HI there, what is the wax paper used for? How did you put in the white dots?
We laid the coffee filters on the wax paper to dry so it didn’t get on our table and the wax helps so that the coffee filters don’t stick to it while drying. I dotted the coffee filter with white Elmer’s glue and the boys put on their black seeds. We didn’t do the white seeds, but you could add them too if you want.