Did you know that August 3 is Watermelon Day? Me either! Watermelon is probably one of the messiest yet enjoyable of snacks, especially in the summer!
Provided there are no allergies in your classroom, I recommend watermelon every day during this theme!
Perhaps a parent could sign up each day to provide one for your class!
A Preschool Watermelon Theme is a great theme for any time of year, but of course for this special day!
This theme page has activities for your preschool interest centers. Enjoy!
You can scroll down through this page or click on the Interest Center link below that you would like to go to!
You'll find more themes to help you with your planning on my preschool themes page.
Sponge Painting
Provide sponges and white paper along with red and green paint for the children to create their own watermelon or watermelon patch!
Water Color Painting
Provide red, green and black watercolor paint, brushes and paper plates cut in half.
Add trucks, play fruit and farm items to your block area this week!
Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your theme!
Down By the Bay (book and song by Raffi)
This is a favorite of mine to sing all year long, but is great for this theme, of course!
In advance, make flannel pieces of each character (I color copy pages from the book or find pictures in magazines), laminate and put flannel or Velcro on the back.
Give each child a piece. They place on the board as you sing their part!
Here's a link to the Raffi book.
I found the MP3 for this song as well here!
We love ALL the Raffi songs so we picked this up for the classroom.
Click the picture below to purchase the book at Amazon.
The Enormous Watermelon by Brenda Parks
This is a GREAT story for the children to act out! Read it with them. And then assign character parts for the children to sing their response when the time comes!
Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation!
Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific themed questions while making these fun snacks!
Watermelon Fruit Bowl
Materials needed: Large watermelon, cantaloupe, bananas, and other fruits you want to add!
Cut the watermelon in half.
The children use melon ball scoops or small ice cream scoops to take out the middle.
They then remove the seeds from their scoops (be sure to save the seeds in a bowl for other counting and art activities!).
They help cut or scoop other fruit and place all the fruit back into the watermelon shell.
Enjoy!
Fruit-cicles!
ANY fruit can be used for this! Simply have the children cut the fruit up and drop in a blender. Pour into Popsicle molds and freeze.
You can also pour into ice cube trays, cover with plastic or foil and insert craft sticks into each compartment and then freeze.
Picnic Time!
Provide blankets, play food, a basket, small plastic ants (yup, you know they are always at a picnic!). Have snack here too!
More Than Just Painting (Although that is always THE favorite in our classroom!)
Smells Like Melon!
In advance, mix in Watermelon flavored Jello or mix drink into green and red paint!
that help build their muscles while they have fun together
How Far?
Provide many small watermelons. How far can your children roll them? Have them measure with a tape measure or ruler.
(I LOVE Amazon, and some of the links below will take you to the Amazon website. If you do choose to purchase yours through Amazon, they do send me a few cents--which supports my coffee habit! )
and those small muscles in their hands!
Count the Seeds
This is a multi-part project but great for building up their muscles, their eye-hand coordination and their counting skills!
Materials needed: Green construction paper, red construction paper, precut stencils of circles (one large and one smaller); scissors, glue, watermelon seeds
The children trace the large circle onto the green paper and cut out.
They trace the smaller circle onto the red paper and cut out.
They glue the red circle in the middle of the green (they now have a mid section of a watermelon!).
They now take seeds, one at a time, out of a bowl and glue onto their red section of the watermelon.
Melon Heads!
Provide green and yellow play dough. Let the children make different sized melons.
Provide play dough toys (or Potato Head pieces are even better!) to make faces!
to get your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!
Watermelon Song Sung to Frere Jacques
Watermelon, Watermelon.
Tastes so good! Tastes so good!
They are green on the outside.
They are red on the inside.
With black or white seeds. With black or white seeds.
Life Cycle
Encourage the children to act out the life cycle of a melon:
You are a tiny, tiny little seed going into the ground.
Now it is raining! Here comes the sun! Nice and warm, a vine is growing!
Ooh, look! A beautiful, yellow flower!
OH! You are growing bigger, and bigger.....you're a watermelon!
Melon-y Water
Add watermelon Kool-aid to the water!
for your Preschool Scientists in Training!
Plant Your Own!
Materials needed: Seeds, potting soil, clear cups, spoons, spray bottle of water.
The children fill the cups 3/4 full with soil.
They push 2 or 3 seeds into the soil.
Water with spray bottle.
Watch them grow!
Seed Letters
Use the seeds for the children to spell out their names.
Make letter and name cards in advance and the children line the seeds up on each letter.
Supermarket Field Trip
Go to a local produce department (set it up in advance to see if the produce manager can take some time to talk about where their watermelons and other melons come from, a taste test, etc.!).
If not, ask a parent to come in and talk about fruit! Kids are always excited when a parent participates in class!
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