{"id":13533,"date":"2022-01-17T11:55:57","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T17:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/?p=13533"},"modified":"2026-02-17T09:56:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:56:01","slug":"what-is-a-wolf-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/what-is-a-wolf-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Wolf Moon?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At Great Wolf Lodge we\u2019re celebrating something exciting! It\u2019s the Wolf Moon! The Wolf Moon is a special name given to the first full moon of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This special Wolf Moon only happens once a year, each January.

Why is it called a full moon? The name \u201cWolf Moon\u201d goes all the way back to legends from long ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full moon names were passed down from Native American tribes who gave each month\u2019s full moon its own unique name based on the season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolf Moon got its name because wolves were heard howling at the moon in winter.

Wolves are nocturnal, which explains why they howl at night and there is a belief that they are more likely to howl around the full moon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they howl they turn their mouths up to the moon so that their calls are carried further, and this makes it more likely that they are heard by other wolves. Howling is a way for wolves to mark territory, hunt and find other wolf pack members.

The exciting thing is\u2026on Monday, January 17, 2022, the Wolf Moon will shine in the sky and will be fully illuminated for 3 days! The moon will be at its biggest and brightest and completely full. So, what can you do to celebrate the full moon? First, look up at the sky!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to See the January Wolf Moon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Wolf Moon will rise at sunset and peak at 6:48 p.m. Eastern on Monday night. The moon will be
visible between Sunday night and Wednesday morning, so go outside and check it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peer through a telescope or binoculars if you have them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice the moon\u2019s light areas, dark areas, and the gray in between. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try taking a photo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Draw a Wolf Howling at the Moon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way to celebrate the Wolf Moon is by learning to draw a wolf howling at the moon. You can use
markers, crayons, pencils, whatever you\u2019ve got at home! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grab a piece of paper and learn how to draw a wolf howling at the moon in 10 easy steps<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Color Pictures of Wiley the Wolf<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are so many Wiley the Wolf coloring pages that you can use to celebrate Wolf Moon! You can
print out and color these printable character cards<\/a> that include Wiley the Wolf and the Great Wolf Kids.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a coloring page with a big picture of Wiley!<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also color and follow this maze<\/a> to Great Wolf Lodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit Wiley & the Great Wolf Kids<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Visit Wiley the Wolf!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Celebrate the Wolf Moon by visiting Wiley at the lodge! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can meet all the Great Wolf Kids as they can often be spotted roaming around the lodge. Snap a photo, too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out a Great Wolf Lodge location near you.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Great Wolf Lodge we\u2019re celebrating something exciting! It\u2019s the Wolf Moon! The Wolf Moon is a special name given to the first full moon of the year. This special Wolf Moon only happens once a year, each January. Why is it called a full moon? The name \u201cWolf Moon\u201d goes all the way back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-about-wolves"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-e1643400601691.jpeg",400,267,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-450x300.jpeg",450,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-768x512.jpeg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-1024x682.jpeg",1024,682,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-1536x1024.jpeg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-e1643400601691.jpeg",400,267,false],"wpvqgr-square-answer":["https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/january-moon-300x300.jpeg",300,300,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Great Wolf Lodge","author_link":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"At Great Wolf Lodge we\u2019re celebrating something exciting! It\u2019s the Wolf Moon! The Wolf Moon is a special name given to the first full moon of the year. This special Wolf Moon only happens once a year, each January. Why is it called a full moon? The name \u201cWolf Moon\u201d goes all the way back…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13533"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23677,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13533\/revisions\/23677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatwolf.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}