10 Gleeful Groundhog Day Crafts for Kids
With Groundhog Day coming up on 2nd February, it’s a good time to celebrate Punxsutawney Phil with these fun Groundhog Day Crafts for Kids!
We’ve often heard of animals whose actions are associated with specific weather conditions, like the wolf who howls before a storm, or the frog who sings when it rains. However, did you know that there is an animal whose shadow predicts the weather?
Yes, there is, and he’s a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil! He even has a special day dedicated to his weather predictions, called Groundhog Day which falls on the 2nd of February every year.
What is the story behind Groundhog Day?
The story is that Phil, who lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, comes out of his burrow on the 2nd of February. If he sees his shadow, it means that winter will continue for another six weeks. If he doesn’t, it means that spring is coming!
Groundhog Day is a tradition followed in the United States and Canada. It is believed to have been started by Germans who settled in Pennsylvania way back in the 16th century. The Germans originally used a badger for predicting the weather, but since groundhogs were abundant in North America, that became the forecasting animal!
Many people believe that the tradition was born because people were tired of winter and were really looking forward to spring. So Phil is kind of a hero in those parts, and it’s not hard to understand why!
Since the day in question is coming up soon, we thought it would be fun to learn a little more about this tradition and also make some cute Groundhog Day crafts!
10 Gleeful Groundhog Day Crafts for Kids
1. Groundhog Paper Plate Craft For Kids
Groundhog Day celebrations are a three-day event in Pennsylvania, and they are hosted by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. It is believed that as many as 40,000 people turn up for it – eight times the population of the town! If you’re ready, let’s kickstart our own celebration with a cute craft from Simple Everyday Mom!
2. Groundhog Paper Bag Puppet
Groundhog Day celebrations have been around since 1887, which means that Phil should be hundreds of years old! This is strange since groundhogs only live for five to six years in real life. Well, Phil isn’t your everyday groundhog! Add a puppet show to your Groundhog Day celebrations, with this groundhog puppet from Kids Activities Blog!
3. Groundhog Paper Craft with Free Template
Next up on our list of Groundhog Day crafts is this one from Crafting Jeannie featuring a smart groundhog in a top hat. By the way, Punxsutawney Phil is the short version of the groundhog’s name; his full name is “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.” Whew!
4. Paper Cup Groundhog Day Craft
If you’d like to know more about Punxsutawney Phil and other things about the weather, you should check out the Weather Discovery Center in Punxsutawney. You’ll learn fun facts about Phil; for instance, did you know that he’s married? Yes, his wife is Phyllis, and you can recreate the famous couple using this craft from The Purple Yarn!
5. 3D Groundhog Craft
Groundhog Day crafts can also turn into a fun writing activity for kids, like this one from A Spoonful of Learning! Kids can write about whether Phil did see his shadow or not, and what happens in either situation.
6. Printable Groundhog Day Puppet
Groundhog Day has always been a big deal in Punxsutawney, but it was after the release of the Bill Murray film ‘Groundhog Day’ in 1993 that the event truly went international! Try to create a puppet show based on the movie, and you can make the puppets with this tutorial from Mad in Crafts!
7. Groundhog Name Craft For Kids
Punxsutawney has Phil, but he’s not the only one. Other American states have their own versions of weather-predicting groundhogs – Alabama’s Birmingham Bill, North Carolina’s Sir Walter Wally and Georgia’s General Beau Lee. You can now create one with your name, using this tutorial from Simple Everyday Mom!
8. Groundhog Day Shadow Craft
After making these Groundhog Day crafts, you can’t help but ask – how accurate are Phil’s predictions? Well, the National Climatic Data Center analyzed all the data and found that Phil’s only right 39% of the time. Well, it’s still fun, nonetheless, and Foxwell Forest even has a printable to test your own predictions!
9. Toilet Paper Roll Groundhog Craft
Groundhogs are hibernating members of the squirrel family, and they usually hibernate from October to April. However, male groundhogs do pop out around early February, which is probably what gave rise to the tradition in the first place! Red Ted Art creates a cute little recreation of this scene using toilet paper rolls, and it’s adorable!
10. Groundhog Day Footprint Craft
Phil is in the limelight only during this time of the year – the rest of the year he’s probably underground since groundhogs prefer being alone. They’re also quite a nuisance for farmers – quite contradictory to their celebrity status otherwise! The Educator’s Spin on It brings us a cute craft showing a groundhog coming out of the ground, perfect for little ones.
We hope you’ve enjoyed these Groundhog Day crafts and have learned a few new things too. There are many more interesting things to learn about the groundhogs in real life. For example, did you know that in their burrows, they build a separate bathroom away from their sleeping and food storage areas? Yes, these are some amazing animals!
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