SHARK Centerpiece Filled with Fruit. Perfect for Kids Parties!

The sharks fin is made from the piece you cut off of the bottom of the melon and the eyes are grapes anchored with bamboo skewers.  The mouth is a big circle cut after emptying the melons flesh from inside.  Next you trim off a little of the skin to form those jagged teeth!

My sister Linda saw this someplace and had my son Chris take a picture of it and send me.  I made it as a centerpiece for the twins 5th birthday and it was rally cute.  The next day the boys wanted to know where the shark was......Well I had to fees up it was too big to put in the refrigerator so it went into the trash can after removing what little fruit was left. 

You will need a big spoon to scoop out the fruit at serving time!

The boys love fruit so it was great to have in addition to all of the cake and goodies.

Ingredients for SHARK Fruit Platter:

1 large watermelon ( If you can find one that is longer it will be even more shark like.)
1 cantaloupe
1 honeydew
grapes
strawberries

Wash and rinse all of the fruit and dry with paper towels.  Set everything aside except the watermelon.  Using a large knife cut the bottom 1/5th of the  melon off very straight across forming the base on which it will fit. 

Set the piece you removed aside and hollow out the larger end.  I used a small ice cream scoop and made melon balls or just use a spoon and remove keeping in mind these pieces will go back inside with additional fruit as the filling later.  Just put them in a large bowl for now.

Cut the small piece of the end of the melon in half now and remove any of the pink flesh.  Keep removing until the rind is maybe 1/4" thick.  Form another cut on both pieces to shape the fin.  Anchor these fins to form both sides of one big fin using bamboo skewers.  I push it through just enough to hold then use a scissors to cut/break to the appropriate length.

I found a small saucer in the cabinet and used it as a guide/pattern and took the prong of a meat fork and pressed into the melon enough to mark the circle for the mouth.  Next use a small knife to cut through and make the hole for the mouth.  Be really careful and watch you do not cut yourself!  This is much easier to cut than a pumpkin and I found it much quicker to do!

I then used the same paring knife to cut straight lines at an angle to form those big shark teeth!  It is very easy then to just run a small knife under the skin and remove a little of the top rind to make the toothy pattern.

Set the shark on a large tray or platter and put it close to where it will rest. (It will be heavy when filled so position it near it's final resting place before filling.)   Find the place you want the big black eyes to be and again use a bamboo skewer to attach them and trim off the excess skewer.

Next it the "clever" portion of this, at least I thought so!  Full a quart sized plastic freezer bag with ice and seal it shut.  Place it in the very bottom of the inside of the shark flattening it out somewhat.  This will keep everything chilled throughout the party!  Now fill the whole cavity with chunks of the melons, strawberries, grapes, and any other fruit you have chosen.  Arrange additional fruit around the outside of the shark until you have an attractive centerpiece.  Scoot or lift into it's final resting place!!

Take a few pictures!  It is really cute and our little ones did get the big eyes too when they saw it!!