I always enjoy Groundhog Day in kindergarten. Any special day is an easy way to make the day exciting for kids. With Groundhog Day there is a lot of science and hands-on activities that are easy to integrate into the day. One of my new favorite activities is this Free Groundhog Day STEM Activity. Challenge children to create a burrow for their groundhog.

STEM activities are a great opportunity to promote problem solving, creative thinking and teamwork. It also integrates science, technology, engineering and math, or at least a few of these important subject areas together.

When I do STEM challenges, I typically have large groups of children participating. Therefore, I try to use supplies that I already have a lot of or are inexpensive to purchase. For this challenge, all you need are jumbo popsicle sticks and cotton balls. However, you can change the materials to anything else you’d prefer to use, or anything you already have on hand. A few extension ideas, and alternative material ideas are listed at the end of the activity.

After celebrating Groundhog Day, keep adding hands-on fun to your child’s learning with a FREE Winter Escape Room Game for young kids or check out the popular collection of 60 STEM Activities and Ideas.

Free Groundhog Day STEM Materials

Groundhog Day is a great opportunity to learn about animals in winter and build their own home for a groundhog. For this activity you will need:

• Free Task Card (Optional – Available at the bottom of this post)
• Cotton Balls
• Jumbo Popsicle Sticks
• Groundhog Figure (A printable groundhog is included in the free printable)

You can choose to use other materials to build your burrow. I chose cotton balls because it looked a bit wintry which fit our current theme in class, however, you can use any combination of materials you want. A few ideas are listed below with extension ideas.

You don’t need a groundhog figure to do this challenge, however, I have included a printable image that you can use if you don’t have another toy type figure. I have found that having an actual figure to make a home for increases children’s engagement.

Gather your materials, and you’re ready to start the challenge. You don’t need to do anything to prepare the materials, but make sure to have as many of each material as possible because children will build longer and add more details if they have enough supplies.

Free STEM Task Card

Engineering Challenge for Kids

Once you have the materials, print a copy of the task card and groundhog figure. The task card can be posted with the materials or simply read to children before starting the task. You can also print the task card and groundhog along with the materials and place them in a bag to create a kit that children can do anywhere.

Fold the groundhog figure page along the lines at the bottom to create a triangle so the figure stands freely. Tape to secure in place. Give each child, or group a groundhog figure.

The challenge is clear, “Build a burrow for your groundhog using only a few materials.” The solutions however, are endless. You will find that children come up with ideas for their burrow that are ingenious!

Once you have all of your materials ready, children can start their free Groundhog Day STEM challenge.

Free Groundhog Day STEM

Avoid giving children too much instruction or guidance as they build. Their burrows will break apart and fall as they build. That’s part of the challenge. Children will rebuild, hopefully using the same strategies that were working before and changing things that didn’t work.

The only restrictions for the challenge is that the groundhog must fit inside the burrow and children can only use the supplies provided. Give kids time to build and add details to their work. Some children may create different rooms in their groundhog’s burrow. Others may completely cover it with a ‘roof’ and have an alternative entrance into the burrow. Any solution is a great option.

Free Groundhog Day STEM Activity

Once children have made their burrow, it is a great opportunity to have them talk about. Children will often explain their thinking and the different parts of their structure. This can be a very valuable conversation especially in a classroom.

On the back of the printable groundhog figure is a description of the activity so groups have it on hand, if they don’t have the task card.

Free Groundhog Day STEM Extension Ideas

If there is something about the activity that doesn’t seem to work for you, you can change it to fit for you. A few alternative and extension ideas are listed below.

One of the great things about STEM challenges is that you can switch things around, such as the materials and it will still work. I suggest for all STEM challenges to use things that you already have on hand. Therefore, if you don’t have cotton balls, switch it for something else. A few ideas to use in place of cotton balls includes:

• Playdough
• Building Blocks
• PomPoms
• Gems + Clay
• Provide an assortment of materials and let children choose any two to build with

Another way to add more learning to your STEM activity is by integrating math. A few ideas to easily add math to this activity includes:

• Measure how tall or wide each burrow is
• Count how many cups, cotton balls or popsicle sticks were used
• Limit materials so children can use 15 cups and 10 sticks (or any number you choose)
• Compare the burrows. Who used the most cups? Who used the least?
• Count the total number of materials used
• What 3D shape are the cups? Popsicle Sticks?

Using different materials or allowing children to choose can help make the task more engaging because it is student lead. It can also help with supplies so you don’t need as many of each material to do the project.

Free Groundhog Day STEM Printable

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