Crafty Mom: An easy craft for Groundhog Day

It is almost time for Punxsutawney Phil to have his big moment. Hopefully his shadow will not join him this year and we will have an early reprieve from all of this cold weather. Either way, I happen to think that this Groundhog Day craft is adorable.

I decided we would make a craft about Phil and his famous responsibility of letting us know if we will be shoveling snow or planting flowers in the months to come. My three kids loved making this craft and it really helped them understand this famous groundhog and why we celebrate him every February.

Tape

To make Phil’s body, simply cut the brown construction paper and roll it tightly around the empty toilet paper roll. Glue it and then stuff the excess inside each side of the roll to make clean edges.

To make the hole that the groundhog will come out of, cut a Styrofoam cup about 1/3 from the bottom. Cut out the bottom and then cut green construction paper and roll it around the cup. Stuff the edges the same way you did for Phil‘s body, Do not worry about rolling it as tightly because the bumps make it look more like the ground.

To make the groundhog's face, cut circles or small ovals and have the kids color a face on. Then glue on the googly eyes and glue the face on the top of the groundhog’s body.

Covering a Popsicle stick with brown construction paper makes the arms. Glue the paper on tightly. If you wish, you could also paint the Popsicle sticks brown. Then cut two lines in each side of the groundhog’s body. The lines should be about the size and thickness of a quarter. Place the Popsicle arm through the holes.

Next make the shadow with the black construction paper. Cut an oval about the size of the toilet paper roll and fold like an accordion. Tape or glue the folded shadow to the back of one of the groundhog's arms. The shadow will sit between Phil and the ground until you pull up on his other arm or pull him up out of his hole.

To demonstrate how the groundhog works, pull up on the arm that does not have the shadow. This will make the shadow fall down.

This craft was very simple. I brainstormed awhile before I came up with this concept that was easy enough for my three-year-old to understand but also interesting enough for my six-year-old.

We had a great time with this craft. The kids now cannot stop talking about Phil and his big day! Hopefully that day will be a great early forecast to spring!

Do you have any fun Groundhog Day crafts? I’d love to hear about them!