Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
Baby shark!
Sorry about that. I got a little carried away. My dad invited all of my siblings over for a pool party this Sunday and when I got there, he said, "Emily, I have a task for you. I need you to slice up the watermelon."
Ok dad. No problem.
"I need you to slice it up and make it into a shark's head."
Oh... Ok.... Let me get right on that....
Even though my dad said he was being sarcastic, being the strong-willed oldest child that I am, I wasn't about to deliver anything less than a shark on a platter after that request. The thing is, watermelon carving (or watermelon art as I like to call it) is actually pretty simple. I've done it for so many occasions and always get complimented on it, so I'm kind of afraid to let y'all in on the secret that it's not as complicated as it may look. While I didn't get any photos along the way, I am confident I can walk you through your own baby shark watermelon carving and even made a diagram to help. This is perfect for hot summer days, pool parties, or just any time you want to get an extra squeal of delight out of your kiddos. You can see how impressed and excited our kids were for their shark head watermelon here:
Supplies:
- 1 ripe, juicy watermelon
- 2 blueberries or black grapes
- cutting board
- large bowl
- large Ginsu knife
- paring knife
- potato peeler
- melon baller
- toothpicks
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1. Set your watermelon naturally on a cutting board. Holding the watermelon and starting at the top left, use your Ginsu knife to cut an acute angle towards the center of the watermelon. This will serve as the base of your shark head, so you will want to make sure it stands up on your cutting board at an angle. If it falls over, your angle is too sharp, and you need to trim a little off the bottom. Slice the watermelon from that cut and put it in the bowl; set the rind aside.
2. With your watermelon sitting on its new flat side, find the original center of the watermelon (where it disconnected from the vine) and measure down about an inch. From there, cut a 45-degree angle out to serve as the sharks mouth. Pull out that chunk of watermelon, slice the pieces of watermelon in it, place in bowl and set rind aside.
3. Using your Ginsu knife, cut out the watermelon on the top and bottom of your shark's mouth. You will have to turn over your watermelon to remove the remaining fruit completely. Place in bowl.
4. By now you should have a watermelon rind that is angled on the bottom with an open gap at the top. Take your potato peeler and use it to remove about an inch of the green rind on the top and bottom of your mouth cut.
5. Switching over to your paring knife, start at one end of the mouth and cut triangles in your now white rind to make teeth. Repeat for top and bottom.
6. Use the melon baller to scoop out the rind where you want your eyes to go. Break a toothpick in half, stick it in the socket, slide a blueberry on top. Repeat for other side.
7. Cut a triangle out of one of the rinds you set aside. Use toothpicks to attach this as the fin.
8. Place completed shark head on a platter and fill it up with your sliced or balled watermelon.
9. For an extra cheesy presentation, deliver it to your children while singing and dancing to Baby Shark 🦈
10. Enjoy!
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