Groundhog Day Bingo Cards (free printable, 30 cards)
Thirty-four Groundhog Day words, from Punxsutawney Phil and his shadow to burrows, forecasts and six more weeks of winter, on unique cards for February 2.
34 items · a 5 × 5 card with a free space needs 24 or more. More items make the cards differ.For review bingo, type answer | clue (“56 | 7 × 8”): the card shows the answer, the caller reads the clue. Two columns pasted from a spreadsheet work too. Start a line with an emoji (“🐶 dog”) for a picture square.
Showing 4 of 31 pages. (Print always prints every page.)
To save a PDF, choose Print, then “Save as PDF” as the printer. Only the sheets print.
30 different cards. No two are the same. The card number and set number on every card let the caller check a winner (press C while calling).
About this set
Every February 2, a groundhog named Phil in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is said to predict the weather: if he sees his shadow, there are six more weeks of winter, and if he does not, spring comes early. The tradition goes back to 1887 in that town, and it makes a good first lesson in forecasting, seasons and animals that hibernate. The words here cover the event (Phil, Gobbler’s Knob, the Inner Circle, the crowd, the top hat), the animal (groundhog, woodchuck, burrow, tunnel, hibernate) and the science (shadow, sunny, cloudy, forecast, prediction, seasons), so students can play with the story and still pick up real vocabulary.
Grades: Pre-K to 4th grade. Best in: February.
The words on the cards
Groundhog · Punxsutawney Phil · Punxsutawney · Pennsylvania · Shadow · Burrow · Six more weeks · Early spring · Winter · Spring · February 2 · Gobbler’s Knob · Tradition · Weather · Forecast · Prediction · Hibernate · Tunnel · Woodchuck · Inner Circle · Top hat · Sunny · Cloudy · Cold · Snow · Seasons · Marmot · 1887 · Meteorologist · Celebration · Crowd · Sunrise · Predict · Underground
How to play, and five ideas
Predict first: before the game, students vote whether Phil will see his shadow, and check the result at the end of the day.
Shadow science: when “shadow” is called, take the class outside or use a lamp to see how a shadow changes through the day.
Animal facts: call only the animal words and ask what each tells us about how groundhogs live.
Weather graph: after the game, make a tally of sunny and cloudy days in the past two weeks.
Writing link: the winner writes a short forecast for tomorrow’s weather, with a reason.
Yes. Groundhog, woodchuck and whistle-pig are all names for the same animal, a large ground-dwelling squirrel that hibernates in winter.
Does Phil really predict the weather?
It is a tradition, not a forecast. Forecasters who have checked his record find he is right less than half the time, which makes a good talking point for a lesson on evidence.
Can I change the words?
Yes. The 34 words are in the box above the cards. Delete, add or edit any line and the cards are rebuilt at once. Nothing is saved on our servers.
How do I call the game?
Press “Call the game”. Each press of the space bar tumbles the ball cage and pops out the next item in very large type, with the list of items already called beside it. Press C and type a card number to check a winner, P to change the win pattern, V to have each call read aloud, and F to fill the projector.
How do I save the cards as a PDF?
Press Print and choose “Save as PDF” as the printer. Each page can also be saved as a PNG picture from under its preview.
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