Summer is watermelon season! Watermelon is very nutritious and offers a lot of opportunities for creativity for children. Enjoy watermelon while we have it fresh and ripe as a seasonal treat!
Watermelon is nutritious.
Watermelon has a lot of nutritional value. According to the USDA, watermelon is high in lycopene, even more than the amount you find in tomatoes, which are known to be lycopene-rich. Lycopene is a very powerful antioxidant that helps us maintain healthier bodies by protecting our cells from being damaged.
Also, more than 90% of watermelon is water, which makes watermelon an ideal food to eat in the summer to prevent us from getting dehydrated.
Get creative when you eat your watermelon.
Watermelon is delicious just by slicing and eating it. But if you want to be more creative, or if your child or other family members are not big fans of watermelon, you can eat it in different ways. For example, you can easily make watermelon popsicles by puréeing it and even mixing it with other fruits, like blueberries. You don’t need to add any juice as watermelon has enough liquid in it to make popsicles with.
Fun activities using watermelon.
Maybe your child doesn’t like to eat watermelon. Or maybe you just want to have fun with it. Either way, playing with watermelons can be fun, can offer a great sensory experience, and can help build a positive relationship with food.
There are many things you can create when you play with watermelons, but my favorite example is watermelon carving. Watermelon skin is relatively easier to carve for children compared to pumpkins. As you carve the watermelon, you can enjoy the color contrast of the skin, the lighter-colored part, and the red part that we typically eat. You can also eat the watermelon as you carve it!
Share your favorite ways of eating or playing with watermelon on Tasty Tuesdays!
The Power of Play 