Groundhog Day - February 2nd
Shadow or No Shadow?
Groundhog Day started as a Pennsylvania German custom in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its official celebration began on February 2nd, 1886. German settlers brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day in the 1700s. Candlemas has an early origin in the Pagan festival of Imbolc. It occurred at the mid-point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. It was believed that if the weather was fair, then the second half of winter would be stormy and cold. For early Christians the custom on Candlemas was for clergy to bless candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of winter. People would place the lit candles in each window of their house. On February 2nd, if the sun came out, it meant six more weeks of winter weather.
During Candlemas Day, Germans watched a badger for the shadow. In Pennsylvania the groundhog replaced the badger. The groundhog is a member of the squirrel family and is also known as a woodchuck.
Some of the most famous groundhogs are Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil, Georgia's General Beauregard Lee, New York's Staten Island Chuck and Ontario, Canada's Wiarton Willie. Willie is an albino groundhog and he has been predicting since 1956. Pennsylvania's Phil weighs 15 pounds and eats dog food and ice cream.
According to the Associated Press, an animal rights group is asking for Pennsylvania's Phil to be replaced with a robot.
If you are looking for activities to do with your children for Groundhog's Day, here are a few sites that are worth checking out.
Kaboose has several activities that are perfect for children. The website has Groundhog's Day e-cards, printables, quizzes, puzzles, games and coloring pages. You can also find adorable e-cards at 123Greetings.
There are also several websites that offer different craft ideas for Groundhog's Day. At Enchanted Learning, you can learn how to make a Groundhog Mask or a Pop-up Groundhog Puppet. The website also offers pintables, worksheets and diverse printable activity books. The DLTK website has instructions for a cute Groundhog toilet paper roll craft. You can also find 10 Groundhog coloring book pages.
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Published by Ana Blanco
36 year old Mom who works full time. Born in Portugal and has lived in the US for almost 30 years. Married with 1 daughter. We also have 3 dogs and 3 cats. View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentInteresting article. I almost always find out new information when I read this author.
This finally makes sense! Thanks :) And as an old family member used to say, "Winter has been mild so far...we're gonna' pay for it!"