Counting Watermelon Seeds

These watermelon math mats are perfect for counting and addition practice in the summer months. I have had them so long that I can't remember where I got the idea but I think they are from Workjobs 2 by Mary Baratta-Lorton.

To make the mats I used green poster board and red, white, and green felt. For the seeds I used small, white beans and spray painted half of them black. I made eight of these watermelon mats.

To practice counting, the child places a number card on a mat and then places the correct number of seeds on the watermelon,


To practice addition, the child places an addition card on a mat and then uses the black and white seeds to solve the addition problem.