Groundhog Day Craft

About this resource

One groundhog to color, cut and glue, plus a shadow or no-shadow guess, a class vote, a sunny-or-cloudy picture sort, a chant and writing on three levels, in one print-and-go Groundhog Day craft for PreK to 2nd grade.

The craft is a groundhog face with a brown head, a tan muzzle, two buck teeth, a top hat and a bow tie. It is cut into 9 equal squares in three columns and three rows, so every cut is a straight line and there are only a few cuts. Children color the black-and-white pieces (or use the ready-colored set when coloring is not the goal that day), cut them out and glue each piece on its faint twin. Every glue box is exactly the size of its piece, and the nine pieces make the whole groundhog. A picture step page shows every step with one short sentence each, and a small finished model sits on the page so a child can check their work.

Then the groundhog goes to work. Children guess shadow or no shadow and draw what he does next, color one box on a class vote graph, and cut 6 sky cards (three sunny, three cloudy) to sort onto a shadow day or a no-shadow day. Our own original chant, five short lines with a picture for each, gives you something to say and clap together. Three writing pages start from "If the groundhog sees his shadow...": trace and draw, fill in the sentences with a word bank, or write freely. A speech-bubble page asks "What does the groundhog say?" Every student page has one short instruction with a picture and a "My name" line.

Groundhog Day is taught as a tradition and a guessing game. The story says that if the groundhog sees his shadow, winter lasts longer, and if he does not, spring comes early. The unit makes no claim about real weather.

What'S Inside

• Start Here: how the craft works, a note on the topic, the three levels and a five-day plan
• Meet the groundhog: the finished groundhog with labels (ear, eye, whiskers, hat, nose, teeth, bow tie) and a sunny day and a cloudy day
• A word bank page: 7 words (groundhog, shadow, sun, cloud, burrow, spring, winter) to trace and write on handwriting lines
• Our chant: five lines, each with a picture
• The groundhog craft: a picture step page, 9 pieces to color and cut, the same 9 pieces ready-colored, and a glue page with the 9 twins
• Shadow or no shadow: a guess page and a class vote graph
• A sunny-or-cloudy sort with 6 cards and 6 glue boxes
• Writing on three levels (trace and draw, fill in, write freely) and a speech-bubble page
• A "Who Did What This Week" class data page
• A family letter to send home
• A credits page (font license)

19 pages in all, 14 of them for students.

Cutting Built For Small Hands

Every cutting page has big squares lined up edge to edge, 2.1 inches for the groundhog pieces and 2 inches for the sort cards. 24 pieces to cut in all (9 black-and-white pieces, 9 ready-colored pieces and 6 sort cards). You will need crayons, scissors and glue sticks. Card stock suits the craft pages.

Three Skill Levels

A small shape beside the name line marks each writing page (circle, square or triangle). Easier: trace and draw, or a partner who holds the glue stick. Harder: write freely, and the speech-bubble page.

Who This Is For

PreK to 2nd grade classrooms, self-contained special education classrooms, and paraprofessionals who want a Groundhog Day craft with writing attached, ready to print.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A printable PDF (print and cut). It is not Google Slides, Docs or PowerPoint, and it has no fillable fields. It is not a lesson on weather, and it makes no claim about any student's age or rate of progress.