Ground Hog Day Theme For Preschool

Ground Hog Day--what an American tradition!

Poor Punxatawny Phil!

They wake him from his hibernation to keep up with us all!

Let the planning begin!

You can either scroll down through this page to see all of the preschool lesson plans and activities for your theme.  

You can also click on the picture links below to go to specific preschool activity types you are looking for

Ground Hog Day Theme Art

Paper Bag Puppets

Materials Needed: brown lunch bags, markers

Show the children pictures of a groundhog. Have them draw a circle on the bottom of the paper bag. Show them how to use the bag as a puppet. They can also draw arms and feet by decorating the rest of the bag.

Playdough Sculptures

Materials Needed: Brown playdough (store bought or your own home-made batch).

Encourage the children to make their own furry little critters!

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Ground Hog Day Theme Block Center Ideas

Shadow Blocks

Add flashlights to the block area. See what sized block shadows you can make with one block or a hugh tower of blocks!

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Ground Hog Day Theme Circle Time Ideas

Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your Ground Hog Day Theme!

Ground Hog Discussion

Discuss these furry critters with your children! Provide pictures and books for them to look at. They are also called woodchucks. They are furry and a bit bigger than a cat. They are vegetarians. They dig tunnels under ground and hibernate all winter. They are usually brown and sometimes have a gray tone.

There is a legend about the groundhog. It states that they come out of their homes on February 2nd to see if winter is over. If they see their shadow, it scares them and they go back to their homes and sleep for another 6 weeks. If they don't see their shadow, they stay above ground and winter is almost over!

A song to go with it!

Sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:

Wake up, Groundhog. Time to see

what the weather's going to be.

Time to stretch. Time to think.

Time to eat and time to drink.

Wake up Groundhog. Time to see

what the weather's going to be!

And a tongue twister:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck...IF a woodchuck could chuck wood!

I See My Shadow

A Poem to act out:

I see my shadow, my shadow sees me. (Hands over eyes like glasses)

I wave to my shadow, and my shadow waves to me. (Wave to each other)

I run with my shadow, and my shadow runs with me. (Run in place)

I love my shadow, and my shadow loves me. (Hug self)

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Snack Recipe Ideas to Cook Up for Your Ground Hog Day Theme!

Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation! Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific themed questions while making these fun snacks!

Groundhog Lunch

Materials Needed: lettuce, watercress, cucumbers, ranch or other dressing

Provide these greens for the children to help you to wash and cut and put in a large bowl. Enjoy some at snack time with their favorite dressing!

Food with HOLES

Provide snacks that have holes in them to remind the children of the ground hog's burrows! Some examples are: pineapple rings, Swiss cheese, bagels, or make toast and have the children cut out holes using a cookie cutter!

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Ground Hog Day Theme Ideas to Transform Your Dramatic Play Area

Light Shadows

Ground Hog Day would not be complete without some light and shadow play! Set up a burrow by hanging a dark blanket or sheet in your dramatic play area. Provide flashlights and encourage the children to create shadows. Provide different shapes of paper as well as stuff animals to shine the lights on to see if there is a shadow!

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Themed Ideas for your Easel

What a Scene!

Provide green, brown and white paint! Encourage the children to paint our furry friend coming out of his tunnel...what will he find? Grass? Snow? Of course, it's paint...just let them paint!

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Ground Hog Day Theme Large Group Games to Help Build Your Preschoolers' Muscles While They Have Fun Together!

Find Your Shadow

If possible, go outside on a sunny day! Help the children to find their shadows. When they do, what happens when they back up, or move their arms or move their legs. Take pictures if you are able to show them later!

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Ground Hog Day Theme Ideas for Your Library and Literacy Activities for your Preschool Classroom

Book Suggestions for the Library

(I LOVE Amazon, and some of the links below will take you to the Amazon website.  If you do choose to purchase yours through Amazon, they do send me a few cents--which supports my coffee habit! )

Groundhog Day! by Gail Gibbons

Moonbear's Shadow by Frank Asch

A Garden for a Groundhog by Lorna Balian

It's Groundhog Day by Steven Kroll

Additional Item for the Library

Provide pictures and newspaper articles with pictures in the library area. Save these from year to year!

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Theme activities to Help Your Preschoolers Develop Their Math Skills and the Small Muscles in Their Hands!

Shadow Matching

In advance, cut out a 10-12 shapes all in the same color. Also cut the same shapes out from black paper. Glue the black "shadow" shapes to the inside of a manila folder. Provide the colored shapes for the children to match to the shadows.

Laminate the shapes for durability. Store the shapes in a Ziploc baggie and then store inside the folder for future use.

VARIATION: This could be used when working with numbers or letters as well.

Cup Puppets

This is a traditional activity and great for fine motor development and name writing.

Materials Needed: Large craft sticks (tongue depressor size), thin markers; paper cups

Make a cut mark in the bottoms of the cups, wide enough for the craft stick to fit through.

Have the children print their name on one side of the craft stick.

On the other side, have the children use the marker to make a face on the top end of the craft stick.

Show the children how to slide the stick up and down through the cup for their Ground Hog to come out and check for its shadow!

Ground Hog Day Theme Music and Movement Activities and Ideas to get your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!

Shadow Moves

Choose a child to stand up and "strike a pose". The other children should copy, or "shadow" that move!

You could start to show them how. For example, stand up with one leg in the air and one arm up to the sky and invite the children to copy or shadow you!

Here's A Little Groundhog  Fingerplay

Here's a little groundhog, furry and brown (raise thumb up)

He's coming up to look around (pop thumb up and make it move up and down to look around)

If he sees his shadow (put and over eye as though searching for something)

Down he'll go (hide thumb in fist)

Then six more weeks of winter--OH NO! (put up 6 fingers)

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Ground Hog Day Activities for Your Sand and Water Table!

Tunnel Time!

Materials Needed: Sand; small, plastic spray bottle with water in it, sand toys.

Encourage the children to make tunnels, holes, burrows, etc. in the sand. Of course, sand castles are fun to make ANY time of year!

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Ground Hog Day Theme Science Activities--for your Preschool Scientists in Training!

How Big?

Materials Needed: Ruler, paper, marker, a sunny day!

Take a favorite object outside and place it where the sun creates a shadow. Measure how tall the shadow is with the children and write it down.

Come out and check the shadow and re-measure every 1/2 hour to an hour and compare what happens.

Each time you go out, discuss shadows and the sun: Where is the sun now? Where is the shadow?

VARIATION: If you can, draw the outline of the shadow you are observing with chalk. The children will be amazed that the shadow has moved!

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Writing Activity Ideas for Your Preschool Classroom's Ground Hog Day Theme!

Thanks, Nelsy, for sending in this idea!
Provide each child with a different picture of a groundhog. Have them come up with a story about the picture. The teacher writes down the child's story.

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Other Pages You Might Like:

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Go to MAIN THEMES Page for more theme ideas!

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Go to Preschool Plan It's Home Page

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