Preschool/Kindergarten: A One or Two Day Unit for Groundhog Day (Feb. 2)

Books to read:

Groundhog Day, by Gail Gibbons

Gregory’s Shadow, by Dan Freeman 

Groundhog Day (Rookie Read About Holidays) by Michelle Aki Baker (all the books in this series that I’ve seen have been good.)

What Makes a Shadow (a Let’s Read and Find Out book)

 Shadows and Reflections, by Tanya Hoban

How Groundhog’s Garden Grew, by Lynn Cherry (I haven’t seen this one, but I have some of her other books and enjoyed them very much.) 

Activities: 

-Watch the news in the morning (on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2^nd) and see what the groundhog “predicted.” Talk about the prediction, and whether or not you think it could be true.

-Record the weather for the next six weeks and see if the groundhog was right or wrong.  If he was right, be sure to explain to your children that he isn’t always right.

-Check out the website, Groundhogs at Hogheaven and look at pictures of groundhogs and listen to the groundhog’s calls.  Find out even more about groundhogs (or woodchucks)  HERE and more about Groundhog Day HERE. 

-Play shadow tag.   

Learn a Tongue-twister:  Teach your kids the old stand-by:  “How much wood does a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”  (“Woodchuck” is another nickname for the groundhog.)

Vocabulary:  Hibernate (“Phil” is pulled from his burrow—he hibernates), groundhog, woodchuck, whistle pig (other names for the groundhog), predict, weather.

Art: -Make a pop up ground hog or a stick puppet groundhog (preschoolers can assemble these if you prepare the pieces.) 

-Make shadow art:  Fold a piece of construction paper in half.  Have your child paint (thick tempera paint works best) on only ONE SIDE of the fold.  Then carefully fold the paper together and press gently.  Open the fold to see an exact copy (or shadow) of what your child painted.

© 2010 Susan Lemons all rights reserved.  Copyrighted materials may not be re-distributed or re-posted without express permission from the author.

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