Groundhog Day came up at our house in a discussion revolving around "what holiday is next" :) and we've had a great time exploring, learning and playing over the past week or so and now all three of my kids are well-versed in all things groundhog!
I added several books to our collection and they've all enjoyed checking them out and reading them.
In Groundhog's Dilemma half of groundhog's friends are happy and half are upset about him declaring six more weeks of winter. They all start asking him to start calling the weather the way they want and he agrees - leading everyone to believe that he can control the weather. He ends up having to tell his friends the truth (that he just calls it like he sees it) and his friends love him regardless - it was a sweet story about friendship and even people pleasing. We all loved this one!
Groundhog Weather School was Luke's favorite pick - less of a story and more of a reference book. If you're looking for a bedtime story this probably isn't the best choice, but if you have a child who eats up facts and information this would be a great choice for some quiet reading time.
Punxsatawney Phyllis was SUCH a cute read! Phyllis loves ALLLLL types of weather and she's super excited about the upcoming change - but she has to figure out how to wake up her Uncle Phil to make the prediction. We've read this one almost every day!
Groundhog's Day Off was Mason's favorite - Groundhog is tired of everyone only being concerned about his prediction and not about HIM and so he decides to head off on vacation. Super cute story.
Grumpy Groundhog was my favorite book - it rhymes which I'm a total sucker for and who can't relate to not wanting to get out of bed and go to work :)
You can check out all of our favorite picks along with a few I'm hoping to grab for next year using the links below...
I saw variations of this craft on Pinterest and loved the idea of having them take them outside and get to explore shadows so we dove in. I took paper plates and cut out a groundhog shape then gave the kids paints and instructions to paint the bottom half green and the groundhog part (and some extra plate) brown.
We painted them, let them dry and then cut out and attached the arms, ears, noses, etc. Griffin decided to add a bow and Mason a bow tie and top hat :)
It was getting late when we went outside to play with them so it's hard to see in the pictures - but the kids held them at different angles and we got to see how their shadows reacted. We also did the same thing with flashlights inside.
I also found this game HERE and we had a good time playing it with two dice and practicing addition as we rolled.
We also watched a couple of videos about Groundhog day and groundhogs...
I wanted to share this post today to give y'all a chance to start gathering ideas before February 2nd! Unfortunately, I had a few other fun ideas but we just ran out of time with me not feeling 100% over the weekend. But here you go in case you need any additional fun ideas...
- A Spring/Winter collage: have your kids search through magazines and find pictures, colors, words that either represent Spring or Winter and categorize and glue them down onto a poster board
- "I hope the groundhog does/does not see his shadow because...." A super easy writing/discussion prompt. We discussed this as we played, but it would me a fun writing assignment if you're child is working on creative writing
- Drawing a groundhog den - I had planned on letting the kids draw and decorate a groundhog den on a long roll of butcher paper. We found out that their dens are often HUGE and this is something we may end up doing ON groundhog day.
Happy Crafting and Happy ALMOST Groundhog day :)
PS - this post contained affiliate links... thank you so much for reading and supporting my blog!
Those books are adorable!!!
ReplyDeleteI such such cute ideas!! Thank you for sharing! I have so many groundhog books from my teaching days! Hopefully today I can gather everything together for a fun little Groundhog craft day! My kids thank you in advance 😆😉
ReplyDeleteSo cute!
ReplyDeleteWe absolutely love reading and special books for holidays make it even more fun!
We were recently gifted Ground Hogs Day Off and love it!
Can’t wait to do a few of these crafts :-)
I am from PA and am proud Phil is from PA ;)! I used to sing a groundhog song to my first graders to the tune of "I'm A Little Teapot" and they loved it. Given our winter weather, I think we will have 6 more weeks of winter this year ;) xoxo Erin @ Simple Purposeful Living
ReplyDeleteYears ago when my husband was deployed, we needed a holiday during the winter so we began our annual celebration of Cold Day which often took place on Groundhog's Day. My oldest is now 16, but we still have a few nods to this family holiday. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing! I reserved several of the books online at our library.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your ideas! I have ordered some of the games and books for my grandkids. We love to read!
ReplyDeleteI love all the ideas! Groundhog's day is my friend's favorite school holiday to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteI was born and raised in Punxsutawney and grew up celebrating Phil every year! I absolutely love this post and it made me homesick for that sweet little town. ❤️
ReplyDeleteI love Groundhog Day so much! We always do a pancake breakfast (I have a groundhog-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the pancakes) and we watch the live stream of Punxsutawney Phil's prognostication. This will be our 13th year! I have Groundhog's Day off but am excited to order Grumpy Groundhog and Punxsutawney Phyllis for my kids this year!
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