Groundhog's Day Mask

We had fun making a groundhog mask during our 'Special Time' yesterday afternoon.

We used two small paper plates, (one for him and one for me) and painted them with light brown craft paint.

After the light brown was dry, we used dark brown paint and a small paintbrush to create noses, whiskers and mouths on our groundhogs, and used glue and googly eyes to finish of their faces.

Then I used a hole punch and some kitchen string to make them into masks we could wear. (This groundhog is mine. Are you amazed by my mad skills?)

Then we put them on and pretended to be groundhogs.

Peek-a-boo!

Just a little activity to mark the day, but we had fun being together.

Last Minute Groundhog's Day Fun

Sometime 'smaller' holiday sneak up on me and I don't have much planned. Luckily, I have a few things tucked into my back pocket for just such occasions, one of which is including a song or two into our day.

Here are a couple little ditties that you can do with your kiddies in honour of Groundhog's Day, no prep time needed.

Mr. Groundhog (to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Mr. Groundhog, Mr. Groundhog,

Are you there? Are you there?

Will you see your shadow?

Will you see your shadow?

On this day. Groundhog's Day.

I'm a Little Groundhog (to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little groundhog, furry and brown.

I'm popping up to have a look around.

If I see my shadow, down I'll go.

Six more weeks of winter, oh no!

Another quick and easy way to incorporate an activity into your day is to do a themed colouring page. A little visit to Google images, and you can find a printable colouring page for just about everything.

I also found a couple of printable Groundhog's Day word searches. There is an easier one here for preschoolers - kindergartners, and a harder one here for grade level kids.

Have fun!

Groundhogs Day Cupcakes

For the past couple of years I have made some very cute little cupcakes to celebrate Groundhogs Day. I got the basic idea from Family Fun, but I made a few changes that make this project easier and faster for us.

A few of my little groundhogs saying 'hello.'

The biggest difference between the Family Fun cupcake and the ones I make is the candy I use. They suggest a full sized Almond Joy for the body of the groundhog. I'm not a fan of those to begin with, but I don't just use a different chocolate bar, I use a mini-sized one. In their instructions, you are supposed to cut a hole in the cupcake after you bake it in which to insert the chocolate bar. Cutting out the cake and just throwing it away seems crazy to me, so I use a smaller chocolate, and just plant it in the icing. It works just fine. And you don't lose any of the cupcake goodness!

Also, they use jellybeans for the eyes and then make pupils with black gel. That is a little fussy for me. Plus I cheap out buying all the different candies and opt to just get the mini m&ms. Then also the kids can choose the colour of their groundhog's eyes, which is kind of fun.

And lastly, they bought watermelon candies and cut them up into tiny pieces for the noses. Again, cheaping out on the candy, I just added a squirt of pink icing. Easy-peasy.

Okay, here's how I made them.

I made the cupcakes last night while the kids were sleeping so that they could help me make them right away and not have to wait for them to cool off.

My kids had a hoot using my real icing bag, instead of just a Ziplock with a small hole in the corner of it, their usual lot. We used white icing to be the 'snow' that is on the ground in February.

Then we sprinkled Oreo cookie crumbs on the top to be the dirt around the groundhog's hole.

Then we built our groundhogs: a mini chocolate bar (Snickers and Twix this year) is the body. Then we used chocolate icing as our glue to add mini m&ms for the eyes, and brown ones for the ears and cheeks. A quick squeeze of pink icing between the cheeks made a quick nose, and a tiny bit of white below the cheeks for his teeth.

Then the groundhog nuzzles down into the icing and you are finished.

So cute! So fun!

Groundhogs Day Craft

We had a fun Groundhogs Day in our home today. We made a craft after my oldest was back from school. (He was a little miffed we made Snow Ice Cream while he was in class yesterday).

Supplies needed:

-Styrofoam cup
-sharp kitchen knife
-Popsicle stick or tongue depressor
-crayons
-scissors
-green tissue paper, cut into 5" strips with fringe on the top
-glue
-small picture of a groundhog


First, cover the outside of the Styrofoam cup with glue.

Spread the tissue paper over the cup and smooth out the bubbles.

Using the knife, make a slit in the bottom of the cup just big enough for the stick to slide through. (I did this part, but the kids did all the rest)

Colour the groundhog picture.

Cut around the picture, and glue it to the top of the Popsicle stick.

Slide the stick down into the cup and out the bottom. Then the kids can pull the stick down to make the groundhog hide in his hole, and push the stick up to pop the groundhog out so he can look for his shadow.

Cute, eh?