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GROUNDHOG DAY THEME

CRAFTS:

Brown Playdough
Mix up a batch of brown playdough & sculpt groundhogs

Groundhog Puppets
Using brown construction paper, cut groundhog faces about 1 1/2 in across. Spread glue on face and attach thin whisps of cotton to represent fur. Glue on paper eyes, nose and mouth. Attach to a popsicle stick. Cut a slit in the bottom of a sm paper cup & have the children push the bottom of the stick into it. Show the children how to make the groundhog appear & disappear. Using these puppets, sing this song & have the children act out the movements.

Groundhog
Have the children make a groundhog with a styrofoam cup or paper cup. Use a styrofoam ball or just use construction paper, straw, felt pens, glue, and scissor.
Glue a circle to the straw, decorate a face on the circle to resemble a groundhog. Place a hole in the bottom of the cup. While holding the cup upright, stick the straw down into the cup and out the hole in the bottom.

If I Were A Groundhog
Have the children draw pictures of what they would do if they were groundhogs & saw their shadows. Ask them to describe their pictures as you write down their stories on their papers.

Make a Groundhog's Home
Find a box large enough for a child to crawl in & let them decorate it like a groundhog's home. Paint it , draw trees on it, etc.. Then let them pretend to be grounghog's crawling in & out of their "hole"

GAMES & ACTIVITIES:

Groundhog Tunnel Game 
Have the children line up in a row. To form a tunnel, have them stand close together with their legs apart. Let the last person in the row be the groundhog. Have the first groundhog through the tunnel on his or her stomach. When the groundhog reaches the end of the tunnel, have him or her stand up & become a part of the tunnel while a new groundhog starts wiggling through.

Groundhog Tunnel
Cut a hole in each end of a large cardboard box. Have children crawl in one end & out the other end.

Groundhog Maze
Set up a maze in room by using tables & chairs. Kids can pretend they are groundhogs crawling through their tunnels.

Mr. Groundhog
Let the children take turns being Mr. Grounghog popping out of his hole (a larger cardboard box) Arrange room so that you can create or take away a shadow. Overhead lights would eliminate a shadow & a low light aimed directly at the "groundhog" would create a shadow.

Shadow making 
Explain to the children that shadows are caused by objects that get in the way of the sun or a bright light. Shine the light from a film projector, a slide projector or a lamp on a bare wall. Turn off the lights in the room. Let the children stand in front of the bright light & experiment with making their own shadows. Ask them to make big shadows, little shadows, animal shadows and moving shadows.

Shadow Tag
Let the children play shadow tag on a sunny day. Choose a child to be "it". Have "it" try to step on another child's shadow. Then "it" steps on someone's shadow, that child becomes the next "it".

Shadow Hand Play
Use an overhead projector or film projector. Experiment on how to hold your hands to make different kinds of animals. Then hold your hands in front of the light projector & project the shapes onto the wall or a screen. See if children can guess what the shapes are supposed to be.

Shadow Play
Make sure children do this in a place where they can see each other's shadows. Have them try to step on each other's shadows. What is a Shadow?
 

SONGS:

GROUNDHOG, GROUNDHOG
Groundhog, Groundhog, popping up today.
Groundhog, Groundhog, can you play?
If you see your shadow, hide away.
If there is no shadow, you can stay.
Groundhog, Groundhog, popping up today.
Groundhog, Groundhog, can you play?

HERE'S A LITTLE GROUNDHOG
sung to "I'm A Little Teapot"
Here's a little groundhog,
furry and brown,
He's popping up
to look around.
If he sees his shadow,
down he'll go.
Then six more weeks of winter
- oh, no!

I'm a Little Groundhog
Sung to: I'm a Little Teapot
I'm a little groundhog,
Furry and Brown.
When winter comes
I sleep underground.
I'm curled up
As cozy as can be.
When it's spring,
Please wake me!

Look All Around
Sung to: I'm a little teapot
See the little groundhog,
Furry and Brown.
See the little groundhog,
Look all around.
If he sees his shadow,
down he goes.
There's more winter,
Little Groundhog knows.

Little Groundhog 
Sung to Little White Duck
There's a little groundhog
Who lives in the ground,
A little groundhog
Who likes to look around.
She comes outside on
Groundhog's Day
If she sees her shadow,
then she runs away.
There's a little groundhog,
Who loves to stay and play
When spring's on its way.

How Much Wood?
How much wood Would a woodchuck chuck
f a woodchuck could chuck wood? 
A woodchuck would chuck All the wood he could chuck 
If a woodchuck could chuck wood.
 

STORIES:

Have any good stories? Let us know!
 

FOOD SUGGESTIONS:

Groundhogs like to nibble on grasses and other greens that grow near their burrows. For "groundhog lunches", let the children help make watercress and romaine lettuce salads to eat with a favorite dressing.

Food with holes
Since grounghogs are known for poking out of holes, let children sample some foods with holes such as donuts, bagels, or swiss cheese.

Groundhog Lunches
Groundhogs like to nibble on grasses & other greens that grow near their burrows. For "groundhog lunches". Make watercress & romaine lettuce salads to eat with a favorite dressing.

Making Shadows
Using chocolate chips and butterscotch or peanut butter chips, let the children create shadows. Using the light colored chips have them make a small shape, & next to it, use the darker chips to create it's shadow. The shadow may be larger than the original shape.

Shadow Cookies
Give children two different types of cookie dough. (Refrigerated sugar & chocolate chips cookie dough would work well.) Make two balls & push them into each other. Flatten the cookies and bake them to create a shadow cookie.
 

TIPS/NOTES:

Talk About Shadows
Big, small, alike, different, making one at night, on a cloudy day, etc.
Make shadows with blocks and a flashlight or anything with a flashlight. 

Talk about the groundhog.
A groundhog is a furry animal that is bigger than a cat. It is also called a woodchuck. Groundhogs are vegetarians, They dig tunnels under the ground and sleep there all winter. They eat alfalfa & clover.

Define hibernation
Hibernation is when certain animals go into a very deep sleep for the winter. Talk about animals that hibernate during the winter as the groundhogs do. Mention that a groundhog is also called a woodchuck and is a member of the rodent family. -