I was an adult before I knew that a woodchuck, whistle pig, and groundhog were all the same thing. I had grown up referring to the short eared, short tailed, grey-brown coated animal as a woodchuck. This was usually when the dogs were keeping the farm free of them. To keep my children from the same confusion we are celebrating Groundhog Day.
Last week at the library the boys checked out puppets along with their books. I didn't pay much attention until we got home and my son was calling his puppet a beaver. However, that puppet didn't have a big, flat tail like a beaver. I instructed the boys to call it a woodchuck. So after all day of calling it a woodchuck we started reading the books that went along with the puppet, and they were all about groundhogs. This is where the confusion started. My 3-year old started calling the puppet a woodpig. At least he knows that pig and hog are the same thing.
To clear up the confusion, we celebrated Groundhog Day by making brown paper bag puppets to make shadows on the wall. The stuffed puppet from the library is what the boys used as their inspiration for their own paper bag puppets. When their groundhog puppets were completed we went to their room, which has the best blackout potential. They made their own groundhog shadows standing in front of my phone flashlight. This is where I explained about Groundhog Day, and it's traditional of predicting the beginning of spring. They started screeching at the shadows pretending to be scared like Punxtasutawney Phil.
I liked watching them role play with their paper bag groundhogs. It was a really quick craft that promises hours of fun even after Groundhog Day.
As for Punxtasutawney Phil, he needs to start kicking his shadow's butt.
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