Tag: watermelon

3 Ways to Celebrate Watermelon

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We learned that the whole month of July is National Watermelon Month (as if we need an excuse to eat it when this fruit is the epitome of summertime), so today we decided to throw a party for this fantastic fruit!

The kids loved getting silly with this. First we needed to decorate, so we made watermelon a banner of… watermelon!

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Color the center of paper plates pink with marker or crayons, then add green around the edges for the rind. Don’t forget the black seeds!

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If you want, cut the plates into triangles and string up in a garland this way like watermelon wedges. We left ours as circles and I festooned the kitchen door with this ode-to-watermelon.

How better to celebrate watermelon, next, than to eat it! For fun, we cut some slices into “fries” and dipped them into yogurt “ketchup”.

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Or, cut a circle cross-section from a whole watermelon and spread with your favorite yogurt. This could be a pizza… Or a cake! Travis decided he wanted his topped with non-dairy cream cheese instead.

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Any favorite watermelon treats in your home? Please share in the comments!

Watermelon Squish Bag, Two Ways

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Summertime just begs for watermelon in all its forms, and today we decided to use watermelon as a theme not just to eat but to play!

I made two watermelon sensory bags for Veronika and although these didn’t turn out exactly as I hoped, she still had lots of fun.

The first was a true watermelon bag. Using leftover chunks from a big watermelon we sliced into for snack, I placed cubes of fruit in a zip-top bag. Seal with green duct tape to prevent your toddler from opening (and to look like a watermelon rind!). Then squish!

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Veronika loved using this bag with her hands, crushing the soft cubes between her fingers. She also smashed at it with a toy hammer.

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Then we made a pretend watermelon in a second zip-top bag. Fill the bag with clear hair gel and add a touch of red food coloring for a pink tint. Unfortunately my red turned out to look more purple, so next time I would color it with pink tempera paint.

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As a result, the fact that we were trying to replicate a watermelon was lost on Veronika. Still, I added a few black seeds from the real watermelon, and she loved moving these around with her fingertips. Initially she thought they were bugs, but then she started saying “seeds!” as she squished at them.

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Arguably, she liked this “failed” squishy bag better, holding it, squeezing it, and occasionally even draping it on her head.

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So if the goal of a sensory bag is to keep a toddler busy, then this one was a winner.

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Capillary Snack-tion Straw

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This straw has some serious action! After learning about how trees and plants drink their nutrients up from the soil in his latest Kiwi Crate, Travis discovered he too can sip in defiance of gravity: by slurping through a straw.

Cut a watermelon into thick slices. Use a flower-shaped cookie cutter to make a flower shape from the watermelon. Insert the “flower” onto a thick straw “stem”.

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Give a quick blow into the straw to expel the watermelon piece inside. This earned a “whoa!” from Travis.

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We filled a glass with lemonade – any drink will do, but lemonade is a favorite around here – and then tested it out.

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Travis provided the power for his flower’s “roots”. What a delicious way to soak up nutrients! When the drink is finished, you can eat your “flower” of course.

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Summer Fun Watermelon Shakers

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Watermelon is arguably the perfect summer food. Take the enjoyment beyond the edible and continue the watermelon theme with these easy shakers. They’re perfect to shake around the house or to bring along on your next picnic!

First we needed to fill a paper coffee cup with rice – Travis was very excited for this step!

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Place a second coffee cup over the first, and add pink duct tape around the middle – you’ll probably want to use careful adult supervision until the seam where rice can escape is completely covered.

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Now cover the tops and bottoms of the cups with green duct tape – voila, a watermelon in a rind!

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We added black dots with a permanent marker for seeds.

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Now shake-shake-shake!

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Surprisingly, the maraca held Travis’s attention for only a short while.

But he did soon want to make his own tape and cup creations. He told me this was a cow and a pig:

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And that this was a lantern!

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Just goes to show you never know what creativity one craft will spark in your child.