Category Archives: Groundhog Day
February Holiday Traditions
Can you believe that January is more than halfway over already? February will be here soon, so it’s time to start planning your holiday traditions! Here are some ideas for family traditions for February Holidays. Okay, well, mostly for Groundhog Day. I have some kind of weird crush on Groundhog Day, I have no idea why.
*Fun Ideas and Traditions for Groundhog Day
*Groundhog Day Goodies
A round up of 50+ links to groundhog themed snacks, sweets, and treats!
*How to Make Shadow Puppets
Learn how to make shadow puppets with your hands, shadow puppets with paper (some free printables), and a diy shadow puppet theater! A round up of 30+ links!
*The “I love you” Shadow: A Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Tradition for families
*Valentine’s Day Link Love
Links to free printables, crafts, and more!
You still have another 2 years to plan your next Leap Year celebration!
Celebrating Leap Day
Which February holidays does your family celebrate? Do you have any special traditions? Let me know in the comments!
How to Make Shadow Puppets (Links)
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If you’d like to learn to make shadow puppets with your hands, shadow puppets with paper, or a shadow puppet theater…try one of the many links below. Shadow puppets are a great activity for Groundhog Day or Halloween and kids love them!
Click here for more Groundhog Day ideas
If you need to get your room completely dark during the day, check out my review for the awesome room darkening shades Blackout EZ Window Covers!
*Shadow-Puppets.com
The most difficult hand puppet subject may be accomplished after only a few minutes.
*Fun with Shadows for Home Entertainers (Jan, 1930) @ Modern Mechanix
This feature explains how anyone can cast the shadows of sixteen different figures, an accomplishment which will provide many full evenings of entertainment for either children or adults.
*How to Make Shadow Puppets @ About.com/familycrafts
Teach your kids to have fun without their toys by bringing shadows to life. See how to make a dog, swan, and bunny rabbit with nothing but your hands, light, and a little imagination.
*Shadowy Days @ Little Page Turners
I stretched a sheet between two chairs, placed a naked lamp on the ground, and voila! We had ourselves a shadow puppet stage.
*Hand Shadows @ Apples 4 the Teacher
What a delightful way to expand on the concept of the Groundhog’s shadow – teach children how to make their own shadow characters! These can be made in front of an overhead projector or behind a hanging sheet with a light source.
*Showy Shadow Puppets @ Disney Family.com
Animal Hand Shadow Tips: Puppy Face, Spider, Goose, Elephant Head
*Kid Craft: Make a Groundhog Shadow Puppet
by Modern Parents Messy Kids @ Momtastic
Here’s a fun kid craft that’s part art project, part puppet show
*Shadow Puppets for Kids @ Drawing Mom
Video
*Winter Shadow Puppets @ Little Wonders Days
They played with making the shadows bigger, smaller, and disappear altogether by moving their flashlight or the puppet.
*Shadow Shapes Craft @ Crayola.com
Regardless of whether the ground hog sees his shadow or not on February 2, kids can create their own Shadow Shapes—and make them all year ’round.
*Shadow Puppets @ Spoonful.com (formerly FamilyFun)
Your kids can cast a shadowy show of their own with just a few of these simplified paper puppets and a tabletop stage.
*Shadow Puppets (Free Printable) @ MarthaStewart.com
This craft is easy and fun plus it’s a great way to entertain young children! (Free printable polar bear or muskox puppet template.)
*How to Make a Shadow Puppet (Free Printable) @ Frolic Blog
The template for an octopus, a shark, a wolf eel and a ship.
*Halloween Shadow Makers (Free Printable) @ Mini Eco
The best thing is that they are very easy to make – all you need is some black paper, a craft knife, sticky tape and some wooden sticks.
*Shocking Silhouettes (Free Printables) @ Martha Stewart
As day turns to night, call on candles to cast an eerie glow throughout your home. When fierce silhouettes are propped above them, spectacular shadows dance across the walls.
*Shadow Puppets @ While Wearing Heels
The possibilities for making your own shadow puppets are endless and the cost involved is next to nothing.
*Shadow Puppets and Their Presentation
@ MagicalMoonshine.org
In shadow puppetry you are limited only by your imagination! Go make some fun puppets!
*Shadow Puppets @ Martha Stewart
More elaborate shapes require some supplementary materials, such as our templates for a shark, sea horse, angelfish, tuna, crab, and mermaid.
*How to Make Shadow Puppet @ The Organic Lemon
They are easy to make, affordable and provide hours of entertainment for little ones!
*Glow-in-the-Dark Star Shadow Puppets
by willowday @ The Crafty Crow
The shadow puppet can be used for: 1) a window shadow puppet 2) a flashlight shadow puppet (Something for summer nights in tents) and 3) a glow-in-the-dark toy or decoration.
*Make a Shadow Puppet Play @ Acorn Pies (also found here)
”For the theater, you could stretch a white sheet across a doorway, glue vellum to a wooden canvas stretcher, or like me, tape one-ply white paper to an old metal frame from the attic.”
*Shadow Puppets (Free Template) @ Education
Make the most of some ordinary household supplies to create this fun puppet craft that hails from Indonesia.
*Shadow Puppet Cutouts @ hvanrossum.com
*Shadow Puppets (free printable) @ National Wildlife Federation
Dolphin, fish, starfish, octopus, squirrel, rabbit, turtle, butterfly
*Easy Shadow Puppet Show @ Rhythm of the Home
”We stretched a sheet over two chairs in our living room. We attached the sheet to the chairs using clothespins, and stretched it all tight by using the weight of the chairs themselves.”
*Make Bedtime (even more) Theatrical with Shadow Puppets
@ Canadian Family
”We just lay down with our puppets close to the wall and shone a flashlight right on them.”
*Make Shadow Puppets @ Squidoo
Illustrated step by step directions how you can make your own shadow puppets, set up your stage, and put on a shadow puppet play.
*Kid Craft: Shadow Puppets @ Gardening without Skills
We got two barstools and stretched out a piece of freezer paper in between the stools and taped it in place. We put a halogen desk lamp behind the stools and turned off the lights in the room.
*Shadow Puppets @ Nuture Store
Puppets are a wonderful way for children to work out real-life relationships and develop their language – and so much fun to make!
Make a Shadow Puppet Theater
*Cereal Box Shadow Theater @ Mini-Eco
This cereal box shadow theater makes a great project for an older child. It’s really simple to make, and can be made from household scraps.
*Shadow Puppet Theater Tutorial @ Givers Log
Supplies: Freezer paper, Elmer’s Glue, Masking tape, permanent fabric paint (like textile paint or acrylic), sponge brayer for applying paint, Fabric that will let a little light through, Tulle (optional)
*DIY Shadow Puppet Theater @ Givers Log
”Tie a piece of string between two chairs and clothespin your theatre to the string. All you need is a flashlight and a puppeteer or two and you’re ready for a performance.”
*Little Light Theatre @ Home Adventurer
”At home we simply transformed our little entrance hall into the theatre; using a floor lamp for illumination, and a small table covered with a large sheet of baking parchment* as a screen.”
*Table Top Shadow Puppet Theater
@ Spoonful.com (formerly FamilyFun)
Your kids can cast a shadowy show of their own with just a few of these simplified paper puppets and a tabletop stage.
*How to Build a Simple Shadow Puppet Theater
@ Inner Child Fun
Shadow puppet theater was made from an empty cardboard box with the bottom cut out, and replaced with two sheets of white tissue paper held in place with packaging tape.
*Shadow Puppet Theater @ Make Monthly
*DIY Shadow Puppet Theatre @ Salsa Pie
Here’s an easy way you can turn a cardboard box and some freezer paper into a shadow puppet theatre!
*Shadow Puppets Cereal Box Theatre @ Red Ted Art
*Shadow Puppet Theatre @ Kirsten Rickert
*Shadow Puppet Theater @ Squidoo
Making a shadow puppet theater is an inexpensive family time activity that will build memories. All you need is a cardboard box (a cereal box works very well), scissors, tape, thin white paper or wax paper, and either straws, craft sticks, or skewers.
RELATED POSTS:
Fun Ideas for Groundhog Day / Groundhog Day Goodies / ”I Love You” Shadow Groundhog Day / Valentine’s Day Tradition
Product Review: Blackout EZ Window Covers
The easy way to darken a room!
Valentine’s Day Tradition: I Love You Shadow
You can celebrate Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day with your kids without the focus being on furry rodents and pink and red hearts. Use the month of February to show your kids why you love them with the “I Love You Shadow” tradition.
(This is great if you’re starting a Valentine’s countdown on February 1 but still want to acknowledge Groundhog Day on the 2nd!)
On Groundhog Day, February 2, I had Adaline lay down on a giant sheet of paper and I traced her outline on to it.
(If it’s a sunny day with good weather you can do this outside and actually trace the child’s shadow being cast on the paper as they stand nearby)
You can cut out the “shadow”, but Adaline chose to leave hers as it was.
Adaline wanted to draw a face on her “shadow”, which isn’t really very shadowy, but it made her happy! 🙂
Next we hung the “shadow” on her bedroom door.
Every day we wrote love notes to Adaline and hid them around the house. She was so excited to find a new note. You could write your love notes directly on the “shadow”, but I knew that Adaline would enjoy looking for her note each day. (Also, if you want to save the messages as a keepsake the notes will be easier to store than the entire “shadow” will.)
If you don’t want to do a scavenger hunt for notes each day, you can just attach them to your child’s door for them to see when they wake up. Adaline liked to put the hearts on the “shadow” herself.
If your children are old enough to write, have siblings write messages for each other. The messages can be something small like, “I love the silly dance you do when you hear your favorite song.” or something more serious such as, “I love how kind you are! Thank you for sharing with your sister today.” You can leave notes with scripture and reminders like “Jesus Loves You!”. The possibilities are endless.
(I’m not gonna lie, the thing hanging there with a face on it creeped us out a little bit. But we didn’t write that on one of the hearts, though 😉 “We love your picture even though it creeps us out on our way to the bathroom at night.”)
The idea of leaving love notes for your kids is nothing new. Adding the notes to their “shadow”, as if you were pinning these positive messages onto them directly, will have an even greater impact. Whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow this year your children can look at their own “shadow” and realize how truly loved they are. 🙂
Do you leave your child “love” notes for Valentine’s Day? Do you have any Groundhog Day or Valentine’s Day traditions? Let me know in the comments!
Fun Ideas for Groundhog Day / Groundhog Day: Shadow Puppets (Links) / Groundhog Day Goodies / Valentine’s Day Links
This post is linked to…
Show and Share Saturday / Design Dazzle: Valentine Link Party / Mama Gab: Pin it Party
Groundhog Day Fun Ideas and Traditions
Are you looking for something fun to do with the kids on Groundhog Day?
Begin the day by waking up the children with the song “I’ve Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher (a nod to the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray). If there’s no school today, stay in your pajamas, put sleeping bags on the ground, eat groundhog pancakes, and drink groundhog hot cocoa, and snuggle in for a movie (Click here for 50+ ideas for Groundhog Day snacks). Try playing shadow tag, making silhouettes or other Groundhog Day crafts, or learning how to make shadow puppets.
When coming up with a new tradition for Groundhog Day consider these key words that are important to the holiday: Groundhog, winter, spring, ground, shadow, hibernation
You can focus on the Groundhog itself or rather on the weather and seasons. You can find something fun to do that has to do with the ground, with shadows, or with sleeping!
Groundhog Day Goodies
*50+ Groundhog Day Snacks
Learn How to make Shadow Puppets
*Learn how to make Shadow Puppets
Fun Ideas for Groundhog Day
*”I Love You” Shadow
Groundhog Day / Valentine’s Day Tradition
*TipJunkie.com – Let’s Celebrate Groundhog Day
*PurpleTrail.com – Groundhog Day Party Planning Ideas
*NoTimeForFlashCards.com – Groundhog Day Books and Crafts
*HighlightsKids.com – Fun With Shadows
Groundhog Day Crafts
*PartySuppliesHut.com – Free printable Groundhog Day stencil
*EnchantedLearning.com – Groundhog Day Crafts: These crafts projects are for preschool, kindergarten and elementary school children. The crafts use inexpensive materials found around the house, like egg cartons, cardboard, paper, boxes, string, crayons, paint, glue, etc.
*ArtistsHelpingChildren.org – Groundhog’s Day Arts & Crafts Ideas: Easy Arts and Crafts Projects & Activities to Make Groundhog’s for Children, Teens, and Preschoolers
*ActivityVillage.co.uk – Groundhog Day Crafts
Other Shadowy Fun
*FamilyFun.go.com – Shadow Play: Games for your child and his shadow.
*FamilyFun.go.com – Search Results for “shadow”: Shadow boxes, shadow puppets, and more!
Learn to Make a Silhouette
*ehow.com – Make Silhouette Art Piece
*ArtistsHelpingChildren.org – Silhouettes Craft Ideas: Find out how to make your own Silhouettes with the following decorations, instructions, patterns, and activities for children.
*Squidoo.com – Shadow Portraits and Shadow Plays
RELATED POSTS:
*Groundhog Day: Shadow Puppets (Links)
*Groundhog Day Goodies
*”I Love You” Shadow
Groundhog Day / Valentine’s Day Tradition
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