Counting Watermelon Seeds

An educational spin to a classic summer craft: counting practice with watermelon seeds!  To make this a sensory activity, felt circles and puffy paint are great for adding texture.  Then my daughter used the watermelon slices for pretend play and ate lots of watermelon at her pretend picnic party!

Important vocabulary:

1. 西瓜 (Xīguā / watermelon)
2. 种子 (Zhǒngzǐ / seed)
3. 果皮 (Guǒpí / rind)
4. 让我们一起数! (Ràng wǒmen yīqǐ shù! / Let’s count together!)

What you need:

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1. Black dot stickers
2. White paper plates
3. Poster paint
4. Puffy paint

What to do:

1. Paint center of the plate red (flesh of the watermelon)
2. Paint edge of the plate green, leaving a white edge of the white part of the rind
3. Cut plates in quarters if learning smaller numbers or halves if learning high numbers
4. Write number of seeds on “rind” of of watermelon slice.  Let paint dry
5. Ask child to feel the Chinese number and affix corresponding number of dot stickers.

Teaching suggestions:

1. Model counting out loud for your child and ask her to count out loud: 一，二，三，四，五，六，七，八… (yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù, qī, bā…)
2. Explain to your child that it is important to practice counting Chinese out loud, carefully, and without rushing.

If you try this activity, let us know in the comments.  Happy learning, friends!