Melon Stamping

We got a HUGE cantaloupe from the farmer’s market last weekend. As I was cutting it up, it occurred to me that we could use the rind and the seeds to recreate a melon garden. I rinsed off the seeds, and cut a few different sections of the rind to use as a stamp.

As we ate the melon, we felt the rind, and I drew G’s attention its texture and ribbing pattern. We also looked at the seeds, and talked about how melons grow from those seeds.

Then we began our project. We gathered dirt and grass from outside (he wanted his garden to have grass). We spread glue over some white poster board, and “planted” the melon seeds into the dirt. Then he spread the grass cuttings over more glue. He wanted orange melons, so I put yellow and red paint onto a paper plate, and he mixed it.

I traced 4 circles for the melons, and he colored the melons in with paint, using a combination of stamping with the rind and painting with a paintbrush. He used both the outside of the rind and the inside of the rind as a stamp, which was neat because he noticed the differences in the texture left on the paper.