Gearing up for Summer with Watermelons

The last few weeks are winding down. In fact we have just 13 more student days (not counting weekends). Near the end I'm either completely overwhelmed by so many options of what to do, or completely out of ideas.

Today I did a one day project with my first graders that I absolutely LOVE! Its a fun way to think about summer while still getting in some art elements and principles.

We first looked at a print by Rufino Tamayo called Watermelons. This print came with our Harcourt textbook series. We discussed the strongest color, shapes, and overlapping in the painting. We created our own watermelons utilizing overlapping and repetition.

I first demonstrated how to create a watermelon with 1 horizontal line, then a curved line underneath, a second curved line, then dots for seeds. We started drawing in the middle with a black crayon. Then we slowly worked our way out to the edges. I reminded students that to create overlapping we wanted a watermelon in front and the other behind. **Make sure not to draw through the first watermelon.

My students then painted the rinds green and the remainder red with tempera cakes. (Oh how I love tempera cakes!) I can't wait to do these again next year. They look simple, but did require our thinking caps. The results are just excellent!

This project took 1 forty-minute class.
Materials:
Black crayons (you could also use sharpies, or any other color crayon if you so choose)
Tempera cakes in red and green (although you could any paint you wanted)
Paint brushes
Watercups

This project could also be done with other grade levels.