Groundhog’s Day Celebrations in the Classroom
Winter or Spring? What will it be!? Groundhog’s day is a fun holiday for kids to learn about season changes! This blog post has all sorts of ideas for groundhog’s day celebrations in the classroom.
If you are looking for general tips about holidays in the classroom, check out an old post HERE. For other February ideas visit my February category on my blog! For other seasonal activities, consider February Binder Tasks, February Directed Drawing, or February Vocabulary Activities.
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What Is Groundhog’s Day?
If you teach in the primary grades, there is a good chance you celebrate groundhogs day in the classroom. Introducing groundhogs day using a social story makes it easy for everyone. My Groundhogs day social story comes in three levels for easy differentiation. It also has a coloring book! I like to introduce holidays using a social story so that students know what to expect. I also like social stories because they help teach kids WHY we celebrate!
How To Manage Behaviors On Groundhog’s Day
With every celebration comes its challenges. Most likely, you will be doing some sort of craft or celebration or outdoor activity to celebrate groundhog’s day. These changes can make kids antsy. They can also make kids excited. When kids are excited it can sometimes manifest itself as a challenging behavior. Help kids have a successful groundhogs day celebration in the classroom by reviewing the basics of behavior ahead of time.
- School Celebrations: This lesson is kind of a given if your school celebrates holidays. If you are having a celebration or performance the routine is going to be different. Review expectations before the celebrations begin!
- I Won’t Hurt Myself: This lesson is an important reminder for students who resort to self injuries behaviors when overwhelmed or stressed. Holidays can be overwhelming, and we must teach them the importance of taking care of themself!
- Taking Turns: This lesson is important for school celebrations because often times with celebrations come fun activities. These activities typically require sharing and taking turns with peers.
- Changes in School: Like all holiday celebrations, many routines change. It is important to review with students ahead of time the important of flexible thinking and tolerating the changes in schedule due to the celebration!
Groundhog’s Day Picture Books
If you have been following me for a while, you know that I live in SUNNY Southern California. I don’t know about you, but I am still OVER winter over here. Give me all the sunshine! I love using this holiday to discuss the season changes. When I was in the classroom I always had a bunch of holiday picture books to put on display all month. Below are some of my favorite books for groundhog’s day this month!
- Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar
- 10 Grouchy Groundhogs by Kathryn Heling
- Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller
- The Night Before Groundhog Day by Natasha Wing
- Groundhog’s Runaway Shadow by David Biedrzycki
- Groundhog Gets a Say by Pamela Curtis Swallow
- Groundhog Day by Lisa M. Herrington
- Groundhog Day! by Gail Gibbons
- Grumpy Groundhog by Maureen Wright
Communication on Groundhog’s Day
Are you planning any groundhog’s day crafts? What about any outdoor shadow hunts? Are your kiddos going to make predictions whether the groundhog will see his shadow or not? If so, it is important to provide communication aides for all of these activities. Below is a sample of the communication page included in my holiday communication book I created for you to use with your kiddos over the holidays!
Groundhog’s Day Videos and Songs
Here are some of my favorite videos to use for Groundhog’s day! The first one is a cute song you can use all month or the days leading up to groundhog’s day!
The second video is full of groundhog’s day facts!
Groundhog’s Day Crafts Activities
I have an OLD old blog post sharing a groundhogs day craft we made every year when I was in the classroom. To read more about it, check out my blog post HERE.
Check out this FREE groundhog’s day activity from The Curious Hippo
Holidays can be a blast in the classroom if planned out ahead of time. I know this blog post is full of all sorts of goodies, and I completely understand if you can’t incorporate all of these ideas every year. I do hope you found some of these tips and tricks helpful for this holiday season. If you plan on discussing more holidays this year, check out my Holiday social stories discounted bundle!
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