A simple watermelon craft helps kids learn the shape and sound of W. Make this uppercase letter W craft with your child and transform the letter into slices of watermelon.
When you make letter crafts with your child, take the time to highlight the shape and sound of the letter. You can do this in different ways. The simplest way is to have your child trace the letter once it is cut out. Using the index finger, they can trace the letter and say the sound at the same time.
Once your child is comfortable tracing the construction paper letter with their finger, you can have them try drawing the letter in the air while saying the sound.
Disclaimer: This blog post contains affiliate links. If you use them, I might be rewarded credit or a commission of the sale. Please note that I only recommend tools that I personally use and love and I always have my readers’ best interest at heart.
Pre-reading Activity
Another great way to introduce the uppercase letter W craft is this pre-reading activity. Use your favorite picture book from our list of letter W books for preschool for this activity. Most of the books on the list can be found at your local library, so you just need to pick one. You’ll find several great watermelon picture books on the list!
First, go through each page of the book without reading it out loud and just look at the words. Help your child point to each word that has a W at the beginning and say the letter sound. Next, go through the book without reading it and look just at the pictures. Help your student identify any pictures that show an item that begins with W.
Finally, read the book together, highlighting the letter W on the cover of the book and emphasizing the sound at the beginning of words as you read. This is a great way to introduce any new letter your student needs to learn.
Add Some Watermelon Extension Activities
I’m a big proponent of extension activities because they help your child make connections between different subject areas. Learning is all about making connections between different areas of knowledge to discover new and exciting information or truth. Try any of these watermelon extension activities to give your student a better chance of remembering what he or she has learned about the letter W as connections are formed in the brain.
Eat Watermelon. This first one is probably really obvious, but if you are going to do a watermelon craft consider that an invitation to enjoy a delicious slice of watermelon together.
Read Watermelon Books. I’ve mentioned the Letter W Picture Book list already, and on that list you’ll find several books about watermelon.
Build a Watermelon Slice. Use Duplo Bricks to build this adorable slice of watermelon together.
Experiment with Watermelon. Try this Exploding Watermelon Science Experiment together.
Setting up the Uppercase Letter W Craft
Get all the supplies together ahead of time and put them in a bag or container to have ready when the timing is right to do the craft. If you have an infant or toddler at home, being ready at a moment’s notice for craft time will be a huge help. You can pull out the craft supplies as soon as the baby takes his or her nap. As you make the craft, spend a few minutes reviewing the shape and sound of the letter W. Help just enough to keep frustrations to a minimum, but the goal is to have your student do as much of the work as possible. All of the steps in this craft are good for little hands and encourage muscle development and fine motor skills development.
Materials for the Uppercase Letter W Craft
- red construction paper
- green construction paper
- black construction paper
- construction paper for the background (color of choice)
- glue
- scissors
- alternative – white paper and crayons
Instructions for the Uppercase Letter W Craft
- Draw the shapes need on construction paper as shown in the image above. Then have your student follow the remaining instructions.
- Cut out a medium-sized large uppercase W from the red paper.
- Next, cut out a large uppercase W from the green paper. This W needs to be able to sit right on the outer edge of your red W like a border.
- Then cut out 7-10 small teardrops from the black paper for watermelon seeds.
- Next, glue down the red W in the middle of the backing paper.
- Then glue down the green w along the bottom edge of the red W.
- Finally, glue down the black seeds over the red part of your uppercase W.
