Kindergarteners should learn about the overall description of the groundhogs. Typically brown in color, they have four legs. They grow to 13 pounds and 24 inches in height, which is about up to the knees of an adult human. Groundhogs are in the squirrel family and have similar characteristics, such as strong teeth, whiskers and claws. They dig their burrows with their strong claws and their whiskers help them feel the width of the holes. Groundhogs also are good climbers and swimmers.
Explain to the children where groundhogs live and what they eat. Groundhogs live in woodland areas and burrow in the ground. They usually stay within one mile of their burrow homes. Mostly herbivores, they eat only plants, like dandelion greens, clover and seeds. Sometimes, they eat insects and eggs. North America is the native habitat of groundhogs, and this is why Groundhog Day is an American holiday. The animals also enjoy eating and living in people's backyard, digging tunnels and eating vegetable gardens. To defend their burrow, groundhogs flick their tails and bare their teeth.
Tell the children that in the spring, groundhogs have babies. Groundhog babies are called a kit or a cub. Usually in a litter of six, they stay with their mother inside a burrow for the first several months of their lives. The babies drink their mother's milk at first and then slowly eat the same plant-based diets adult groundhogs eat.
Give the children a description of hibernation. Explain that during summer and fall, groundhogs head to open pastures to eat enough for winter. They need to eat enough to store fat in their bodies to hibernate deep inside their burrows all winter. Hibernation is when an animal sleeps or rests all winter, rather than needing to go out and look for food like in other seasons. While hibernating, a groundhog's heart rate lowers and its body temperature drops to the temperature of its burrow. Once it is spring, groundhogs venture back to normal life.