Watermelon Paper Plate Craft – The Surprise Garden

Now that spring has officially arrived (hooray!), the kiddo and I are enjoying the warmer weather and reading lots of books about bugs, birds, butterflies and gardening. One of our current favorites is The Surprise Garden by Zoe Hall. The pictures are so vibrant and colorful, and the text is short and sweet to keep little ones interested. We created a fun watermelon paper plate craft to go along with the book because, in the end, they enjoyed the spoils of their labor with a fun garden party with all their fruits and veggies.

Watermelon Paper Plate Craft for The Surprise Garden

The Surprise Garden is such a gorgeous book… I’m disappointed that it’s not sold new on Amazon anymore. You can still buy it from other sellers, and if you can, I highly recommend it. I’m sure it’s probably at a local library, too. The pictures are bright, simple and colorful, and it’s the perfect companion to starting out some seeds with your kids to get them excited about gardening. The book is more suited to preschoolers and kindergarteners than older children.

I’m linking this craft up to the National Reading Month Challenge! Please visit and take a look at the other book-related crafts and activities to get your kids excited about reading.

Materials Needed for the Watermelon Paper Plate Craft:

• Paper plates
• Red, green and black acrylic paint
• Paint brushes
• Scissors

Directions for the Watermelon Paper Plate Craft:

1. Cut the paper plates in half.

2. Paint each half of the paper plate red, leaving an inch or two from the edge blank.

3. Leave a little bit of white space, and paint the green rind around the edge of the plate.

4. Let the red and green paint dry. Once it’s completely dry, paint black seeds near the center of the red portion.

5. (Optional) Cut one of the halves into three pieces to create the watermelon thirds you see in the pictures.

And there you have it — a fun watermelon paper plate craft that you can do with the kids in about 30 minutes as long as the paint is not on too thick. I know my son has a bit of trouble with this sometimes and layers it on pretty thick. 🙂