Groundhogs & Their Burrows

Since we were iced out of school last week, I’m playing catch up this week and using all of last week’s plans :)  We still have LOTS to do and I barely scratched the surface last Monday!  I was SO bummed that my kiddos missed Groundhog Day last week :(  I planned on teaching the kids about animals that hibernate & groundhogs fit in perfectly!  Shockingly enough, only one of my kiddos knew that the groundhog didn’t see his shadow last week, so we went on with the day as planned :)

We went through this awesome little SmartBoard lesson before doing anything.  Y’all…this was just TOO much!  Even though the lesson was primarily centered around Groundhog Day and groundhog facts, there was a lot of great info on hibernating animals!  The kids loved it!!   

 

If you have a SmartBoard, click the pic to download the lesson!  I found it on Smart Exchange!!  I’m nowhere NEAR talented enough to make something this dang cute!!

The kids most enjoyed learning about burrows and how groundhogs dig tunnels.  Did you know they dig up to 700 lbs. of dirt when digging their burrows?!  WHOA!  We talked about burrows and other places animals calls home…dens, lairs, nests, caves, etc.  Then I had the kids pretend like they were groundhogs and do a little descriptive writing. 

First they had to draw their little burrows.  CRACKING up that this one has a TV & a bed!  HA!

Then they had to write a few sentences describing their burrow as if they were a groundhog.

Finally, they made a little groundhog.  I LOVE this little art piece.  It takes all of about 5 seconds to put together.  One of my best friends, Jodi, showed me this idea years ago when we taught Kindergarten together and I’ve been doing it with my kids ever since. 

The groundhog is made of one large brown heart {turned upside down}, one medium sized brown heart {cut right down the middle and used as ears}, and one medium sized white heart {turned upside down and used for teeth}.  All the kids had to do was cut the ears and make the faces.  The hearts were pre-cut for them!  I think these are the dang cutest things!  And perfect since Valentine’s Day is only a week away!