Groundhog Looks for His Shadow

Groundhog Day is a tradition observed in the United States on February 2nd each year. According to this ancient German tradition brought to America, if a groundhog comes out of its burrow on this day, sees its shadow and runs back into its burrow, this means six more weeks of winter weather. If the groundhog sees no shadow, this means an early spring.

Teach children about this fun tradition while they create their own groundhogs in burrows with this activity using simple materials from The GIANT Encyclopedia of Kindergarten Activities.

Materials

• Foam cups  
• scissors  
• brown paint  
• paintbrushes  
• 2" brown pompoms  
• glue  
• tongue depressors or craft sticks  
•  1/2 " wiggly eyes

What To Do

1. Ahead of time, make a small slit in the bottom of each cup. Give one to each child.
2. Encourage the children to paint their cups with brown paint. Let dry.
3. Give each child a tongue depressor or craft stick. They can glue a brown pompom on the end of it, and then glue two wiggly eyes on the pompom.
4. Show the children how to put the depressor into the slit in the cup.
5. The puppet goes inside the burrow and then peeks out to look for his shadow.
6. Talk about shadows with the children. Go outside with them during the day to measure their shadows. Record and discuss why the shadows are longer or shorter at certain times.