Book to Boogie: “The Watermelon Seed”

Book to Boogie is a monthly series that pairs picture books with dance and movement activities for preschool story time. The series is curated by Kerry Aradhya of Picture Books & Pirouettes and written by a different guest writer each month. We hope that children’s librarians, as well as classroom teachers and dance educators, will find these activities useful and fun!

by Maria Hanley

Summer is here! When it’s summer, all I think about is fruit, and one of my favorites is watermelon! When I saw the book The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli, I knew I had to try it out with my young students and also thought it would be perfect for librarians this summer! Plus, it’s just really fun to link movement to food!

In the first part of the book, the crocodile loves watermelon. He eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Then, all of a sudden, he swallows a seed. Uh-oh! Next, he thinks the watermelon is growing inside his body!

The second part of the book is where the good movement ideas start. Here are some ideas to use with your story time guests…

“It’s growing in my guts!” — Ask them to show you their biggest watermelon shapes!

“Vines will come out of my ears!” — Ask them to show you their vines growing out of their ears with their arms or legs!

“My stomach will stretch!” — Ask them to stick out their bellies as if the watermelon is growing!

Make Fruit Salad 

In the book, the crocodile doesn’t want to be in a fruit salad. It would be fun to ask your little ones and their grown-ups what their favorite fruits are and then ask them to make those shapes with their bodies. Then mix them up to make fruit salad!

Ask them if they brought their muscles. Then pretend to carry a watermelon around the room. This explores heavy and light — watermelons are so heavy!

Grow A Watermelon 

Ask everyone to be a seed down low to the ground. Then ask them to grow slowly into a watermelon shape. You can also roll and squirt juice! Repeat this a few times to maximize the fun!

I hope you have fun exploring watermelon this summer!

Books that go well with The Watermelon Seed are One Watermelon Seed and Watermelon for Everyone!

Guest blogger Maria Hanley.

Maria Hanley is an early childhood dance educator in New York City. Maria teaches infant, toddler, and preschool movement and dance all over the city — 26 classes a week, to be exact! When she’s not teaching, she writes on her blog Maria’s Movers and for the Kids Concepts Column at Dance Advantage. On both sites, Maria regularly offers tips and tools for teachers who create with young dancers and movers. 

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