Hands-On Activities

Today, I have a quick ground hog day unit study and fun cupcake activity. Be sure you grab more ideas for winter fun on my page winter season unit study.

Can you believe that after what seemed like 35 days of January, we are suddenly at Groundhog Day? Groundhog Day is celebrated every year on February 2^nd.

Whether you buy into it or not much of the country turns to the tradition of watching Punxsutawney Phil to see if he sees his shadow to predict another 6 weeks of winter or not.

I have gathered resources for you to put together a groundhog unit study to celebrate and I am sharing how you can create your own special treat groundhog cupcakes.

Let’s dig into a little bit about the history of the groundhog and how it became a tradition with books, videos, fun facts, and more.

Groundhog Facts

• Groundhogs are also called woodchucks, marmots, or whistle pigs.
• They are the largest species of the squirrel family.
• Groundhog Day came from early Christians using rodents as forecasters for cold weather in Europe. Then in Germany it changed to a hedgehog to predict and eventually when German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania they changed it to the current hedgehog because they were local and plentiful.  
• Now Phil is pulled from his burrow every year and The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, have a ceremony to predict if there will be 6 more weeks of winter. 
• Phil has been correct 39% of the time going back over 100 years of records.
• From head to backside, they are about 17.75 to 24 inches long and weigh an average of 13 pounds.
• Groundhogs are only found in North America and Canada down all the way into the southern United States.
• Groundhogs are herbivores, meaning they eat vegetation.  This includes fruits, plants, tree bark and grass.

Then add some more hands-on resources.

Ground Hog Day Hands-On Activities

• Print out this totally free Groundhog Coloring Sheet, helpful for kids who might not know what one looks like!
• Include a Groundhog Day Kids STEM Activity in your study.
• Grab a Groundhog Day themed word search for some fun.
• Play the Groundhog Day Cup Game.
• Make an Easy Paper Plate Groundhog Day Craft for Preschoolers.
• Label the Parts of a Groundhog.
• Have kids make their own predictions before you watch the ceremony on TV, do they think Phil will see his shadow or not?
• Fun Groundhog Facts For Kids and Free Printable Games

Also, look at these videos.

• Watch Groundhog Day on Amazon Prime with older kids.
• Wild Kratts is a wonderful, animated nature show for kids. One is a groundhog theme on YouTube.
• Fun facts About Groundhogs will give you a great overview.

Too, look at these fun resources to add to your unit study.

Other Winter Fun Resources

Finally, here are some other resources you may love.

• 16 Ways to Make Homeschool Memorable During Winter
• 21 Homeschooling Ideas to Keep the Winter Chill Off {Activities for Tots to Teens}
• Fun Winter Craft Ideas for Middle School Homeschool
• 50 Keep Me Homeschooling Activities During the Long Cold Winter Days
• Colorful Winter Bird: Northern Cardinal Lapbook & Unit Study

Moreover, look at how to make these fun and delicious ground hog day cupcakes.

How to Make Ground Hog Day Cupcakes

I was able to find every ingredient needed below at Dollar Tree, but if you have anything on hand you can make this project even cheaper.

You will need:

• cake mix
• frosting
• whoppers or brown m&ms
• chocolate chips
• candy eyes
• Reese’s cups

Note:

• For each groundhog you are going to make you will need 1 Reese’s cup, 4 whoppers, 2 candy eyes, and a chocolate chip.

• You can use whatever you have on hand to make the features, you can use brown mm’s in place of whoppers, an oreo for the head, etc.

First, prepare your cake mix according to package directions and fill cupcake liners ⅔ full.

Follow the package for baking instructions.

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely. Frost the cupcakes.

You can leave the frosting white for snow or color it with a little green food coloring to represent the grass.

If you tint it, leave a small bit aside uncolored to use as “glue” for your groundhog’s features.

Next, place two whoppers at the front and press into the frosting/cupcake to make it look like two little paws reaching out of the hole.

Just behind the paws digging out a little hole, I tried to push the Reese’s in and messed it up when we squished it.

So pre dig the hole.

Additionally, for each groundhog, cut one whopper in half and one into quarters.

Lay your Reese’s cup flat and assemble the pieces to create the face. Use a dot of frosting as glue on the candy to hold it in place.

Place the two halves of the whopper candy on the bottom half for cheeks, and the quartered pieces on top for ears.

Add candy eyes and a chocolate chip for the nose.

Finally, press your finished groundhog gently into the hole that you made as if he is peeking out.

First, you want to cut a shape that resembles a cow’s head out of a paper plate,

To do this cut on either side in sort of an hourglass shape but leaving the middle thicker.

Leave the ridges of the plate border one on end but cut just before the ridges leaving it smooth on the other

Cut ears from the remainder of the smooth portion of the plate.

Or if there is not enough left use a second plate.

You can paint your longhorn any color or pattern you like. 

Add a little craft paint to another paper plate.

I created a brindle coloring by mixing two shades of brown and crumpling up a paper towel.

Then stamp wherever you like over the steers face.

Then make the ears.

While the paint is drying, cut two longhorns out of the cream paper.

Make sure you give them plenty of length as you will be gluing several inches behind the plate.

Once the paint is dry glue the ears and horns into place on the back of the plate.

Place the ridged end of the plate as the top of the head.

Use a sharpie to finish off the details of the eyes and nostrils.

Make a whole herd of paper plate longhorn cattle to enjoy!