I don’t know about you, but Groundhog Day was always one of those “holidays” in first grade that would sneak up on me! Especially if it fell on a weekend! Like I’d be laying in bed on Thursday night exhausted but unable to sleep (do you ever struggle with teacher insomnia too?), and all of a sudden, I’d think, “Oh no! We have to make our predictions tomorrow before the groundhog comes on Saturday!” Only teachers get these kind of middle-of-the-night dilemmas!
Thankfully, I could pull out my Groundhog Day prediction craft and graph each year and be ready to go Friday morning!I loved using crafts for primary students!! There are so many benefits to using crafts in the classroom, like fine motor skills, listening skills, following sequential directions, and creativity, to name a few! Plus, I always enjoyed integrating it with subjects like writing or math! It’s truly a win-win!
The good news is that you don’t have to lie awake in bed on February 1 like I used to do because I’ve got everything you need to make your predictions!
(This post includes affiliate links for which I may make a smallcommission at no extra cost to you should you make a purchase.)
Simple Groundhog Day Activities for Kids
Here are some Groundhog Day activities for kids that I used to do with my kiddos yearly. They were simple and quick, allowing students to learn about the shadow and the holiday itself, but also fun and engaging! I believe that the best kind of lessons are when students can have fun while learning at the same time!
Read and learn about Groundhog’s Day
If you’ve been around for a while, you know I have a deep love of books! There’s truly a book for everything! I’ve put together some of my favorite Groundhog Day booksHERE! Reading a book before starting any Groundhog day activities for kids is always a great idea. It gives them some background knowledge around the subject. Books are also a great beginning “hook” to any lesson! I always saw it as a big win anytime I could incorporate a book into our lessons!
If you need a book right away, you can also do a search onEpic! Books,and they have some great non-fiction and fiction groundhog books! Epic is totally FREE for teachers to use! Just search Groundhog to find all the Groundhog books!
You could even read a nonfiction one before February 2 and then a fiction one on Groundhog Day!
Make predictions and graph them
When it comes to Groundhog Day activities for kids, I love math integration! Before February 2, use this graph to have your students predict if the groundhog will or won’t see his shadow this year.
Graphing is such an important math skill for reading and organizing information. It’s also so easy to tie into holidays or themes. Instead of just doing a single math unit on graphing, I liked to weave it in throughout the year. Groundhog Day lends itself perfectly to graphing!
Write about their predictions
Are you catching a theme here? I love integration! First, reading with books, then graphing with math, and now opinion writing! I am here for it!There are so many Groundhog Day activities for kids it is hard to choose just one to enjoy. Students can form their predictions and decide if they think the groundhog will see its shadow. You could even pull up or create a table of past Groundhog Days and see what has happened in the last few years. This allows students to make a more informed prediction, getting them ready for upper elementary, where they will need to back their ideas and opinions with actual data or facts.
I recommend turning one of the Groundhog activities for kids like this one into a mini-lesson and modeling for your students how to write an opinion. Even if you’ve already covered opinion writing, it’s a great quick review. Focus on the importance of giving a reason for your opinion. I liked to tie in the power of using the word “because” for this!
Make a groundhog craft
After making predictions as a class with the groundhog graph, have students make their cute groundhog craft and write their opinions about why they picked their prediction.
This craft is always so fun to make, and they turn out absolutely adorable! I loved how each craft was unique, even when the kids were using the same templates! My favorite was the year that one of my students decided to name her groundhog Phyllis instead of Phil and even gave her groundhog eyelashes! Kids are the best!
Hang them up for an easy and cute bulletin board
Kid crafts were my favorite go-to hallway display! They made easy yet super cute bulletin boards! Hang up your students’ finished groundhog writing and crafts for an easy display for February!
Everything You Need For Your Groundhog Day Activities for Kids!
You don’t need to panic—I have everything you need to be all set for Groundhog’s Day this year! I’m so excited for you to make your predictions this year with my easy-to-use Groundhog Day Predictions Graph & Craft!
- Click HERE for the Groundhog Day Predictions Graph & Craft
