Whether your little one is on break, or you're homeschooling through the Summer (that's us!), it's always helpful to have a few activities on hand to keep them busy and learning over the Summer.
Here are five free watermelon-themed activities that are perfect for summer and will help your little ones develop important skills.
These activities are easy to set up and don't require a lot of materials, making them perfect for busy parents like us! Let's dive into some exciting watermelon-themed activities that are sure to be a hit!
1. Watermelon Number Talk & Seed Counting
Materials Needed:
- 1 Whole Watermelon
- Paper and marker
Instructions:
Number Talk: Cut a watermelon in half and talk about the fraction 1/2, and how 1/2 of a watermelon is one of 2 equal pieces. Then cut each half in half so you now have four pieces of watermelon and talk about the fraction 1/4. Your little one probably won't grasp the concept completely, and that's ok! The goal is to talk about fractions (one the scariest parts of math) now so they are much more familiar later on. You can watch our number talk here!
Watermelon Seed Counting:
Draw circles on a piece of paper and write a number outside each circle. (If you're artistic, you can draw watermelon slices!)
Gather enough watermelon seeds to fill up each of the circles (I harvested some seeds after our number talk while she ate her watermelon snack).
Have your child count and place the correct number of seeds in each circle. This not only helps with counting and number recognition, but it's great fine motor skills practice working with the tiny watermelon seeds!
2. Making Watermelon Slime
Develop sensory and fine motor skills with this DIY watermelon slime recipe! Plus, it can keep your little one busy for hours!
Materials Needed:
- 1 cup of clear school glue (white will work too)
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1-2 tablespoons of contact lens solution
- Red or green food coloring
- Optional: Watermelon seeds or Watermelon beads (we used these for this craft and another craft below)
Instructions: In a bowl, mix the glue and baking soda until combined. Add red or green food coloring to create a watermelon look. Stir, then slowly add the contact lens solution while stirring. Once the slime begins to form, knead it until it reaches the desired consistency. For added fun, mix in small watermelon seeds or some these fun watermelon polymer beads. This sensory activity can keep them entertained for hours!
3. Patterns with Watermelon Bracelet Making
Jewelry making is the perfect way to practice pattern recognition and fine motor skills. And you really only need a few supplies!
For our bracelets, we used the same watermelon polymer beads that we added to the slime + red and green glass beads from this kit. The kit came with string and 2 cases of glass beads, so we'll get several uses out of them!
Materials Needed:
- Watermelon beads (optional)
- Green, white, and red beads
- Elastic string
Instructions: Cut a piece of elastic string long enough to fit your child's wrist. Show your child how to create a pattern using the beads (ex. green, white, red, white, repeat). Let them string the beads onto the elastic, helping them as needed. Once the bracelet is complete, tie a knot to secure it.
This activity is a creative way to reinforce pattern recognition and fine motor skills.
4. Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest
Most of these activities are indoors because I live in Texas and it is H-O-T in the Summer. But this short outdoor activity was worth it. I'll spare you the image for this one, but boy did we have fun!
We'd recently watched the Little House on the Prairie episode where Mr. Edwards taught Laura how to spit, so my 3 year old was thrilled to try this out.
Materials Needed:
- Watermelon Seeds
Instructions: We drew a line on the sidewalk to stand behind and just took turns spitting. But you can grab a stick to stand behind - there's nothing fancy about this activity!
If you have older kids, you can get some measuring tape to make the competition official, but we mostly just laughed and giggled.
5. FREE Summer Watermelon Preschool Worksheets + Story
If you're looking for more traditional, no-prep learning activities, these FREE Summer preschool worksheets are perfect!
The free set includes a story about an ant who swallowed a watermelon seed and more watermelon & summer themed activities!
You can grab them all HERE for FREE!
Conclusion
These five watermelon-themed activities are not only fun and engaging but also help your preschoolers develop essential skills. They're easy to set up, require minimal materials, and best of all, they're mess free! Keep your little ones entertained and learning all summer long with these creative ideas.
Want MORE Summer Activity Ideas for Your Preschooler?
Check out these 7 Fun Summer Activities for Active Learning from Joyful Lessons!
OR
Check out the complete Summer Preschool Activities List HERE!