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Arts & Entertainment

It's Watermelon Time!

Make A Watermelon Chore Chart, And Have Some Iced Watermelon When The Chores Are Done

Watermelon, Watermelon, make a wish

With these seeds, I will spit.

Watermelon, watermelon grow to a bush

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Don’t turn into watermelon mush.

With summer heat beginning to blossom here in Connecticut, the watermelons have begun to show up in the market. This is one of the sure signs of summer. The first question I always hear is how I pick a good watermelon. Do I thump it or pluck it?

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According to Fun Facts, watermelon probably originated in the Kalahari Desert of Africa. The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt and is depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics on walls of their ancient buildings. Watermelons were often placed in the burial tombs of kings to nourish them in the afterlife.

From there, watermelons spread throughout countries along the Mediterranean Sea by way of merchant ships. By the 10th century, watermelon found its way to China, which is now the world's number one producer of watermelons.

The rind of a watermelon is deceptively hardy looking, but is actually quite fragile, and watermelons must be picked by hand. Growers say a pale or buttery yellow spot on the bottom indicates ripeness.

 

Watermelon Chore Chart

Many times, we are locked into the grid chore chart and this can be boring. And it is summertime, right? A time to lie in the grass and watch the clouds float by in the afternoon sun. It is not time to do chores or housework, right?

WRONG!

However, you can make the chores a bit more fun by making a different chore chart. We still use the standard grid to list our chores but when a chore is done, we put a seed in the watermelon slice. At the end of the month, they are totaled up.

Start by taking green and red paper and using a plate cut out a half circle of green. Do the same using a bit smaller plate in red.

Picture 1 - Supplies

Now glue the two pieces to each other

Picture 2 - Glued pieces

I keep an inkpad on my fridge and when the kids are done with a chore, they stick their pointer finger on the inkpad and make a seed. (A washable marker works also. Color the finger tip in and use your finger like an ink stamp)

Picture 3 - Finished watermelon

 

Iced Watermelon shapes

Slice up a few pieces of watermelon about 1/2 inches thick.

Picture 4 - Watermelon slice

Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter and place on the plate.

Next, you will need:

a 6 ounce container of yogurt (plain will do)

2 tablespoons of whipped topping

1 teaspoon of confectionery sugar.

Picture 5 - Ingredients

Mix all the ingredients together with a spoon and add food coloring. I just ice the watermelon with the yogurt mixture and add granola, mini chocolate chips or mini candy pieces and serve; the kids love them.

With the leftovers, I cut watermelon sticks and they use the icing like dip with apples watermelon and berries.

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