As fall turns to winter, parents and educators can use the winter months and holiday season to engage students in winter-themed STEM activities. By leaning into seasonal STEM activities, students can get excited about learning, and make a connection with something they love, like the holiday season! In this article, we will explore a variety of indoor STEM activities for students preschool through middle school that can be easily implemented at home or in the classroom.
Winter-Themed STEM Activities for Preschoolers
Early exposure to STEM helps students to gain confidence in these subjects and create a strong foundation for their continued learning and growth in these areas. Here are some winter-themed STEM activities for preschool aged students:
- Ice Excavation Science: Freeze a variety of toys and items in ice. Then provide students with a toy hammer, rolling pin, and other household items and encourage them to free their toys from the ice. This activity promotes problem solving skills and patience in preschoolers.
- Snowflake Symmetry with Paper: This easy to implement STEM activity only requires two materials – paper and scissors. Through creating their snowflakes, students will learn about symmetry and get an introduction to geometry.
- Melting Ice Experiment: Give students four ice cubes and have them sprinkle one with sugar, one with salt, one with sand, and leave one untouched. Then, they will observe how the material added to the ice cube impacts the melting speed. This lesson can tie back to the winter season, where salt is used to help with icy road conditions.
- Hot Chocolate STEM Activity: Most children have had Swiss Miss, the popular hot chocolate brand. But, what happens when you mix hot chocolate with baking soda and vinegar? This winter-themed STEM lesson introduces students to chemistry through a hands-on activity.
Winter-Themed STEM Activities for Kindergarten
Kindergarten students are naturally curious, always asking questions and trying to understand the world around them. This eagerness to learn makes them the perfect participants of STEM activities. Below are winter-themed STEM activities your kindergarten students will look forward to doing this holiday season:
- Building with Marshmallows and Toothpicks: Using marshmallows and toothpicks, students enter the world of engineering as they build their structures. To add an additional level of difficulty, you can use hand fans to mimic a snowstorm, where students can test the strength of their structure and modify as needed. This exercise introduces students to engineering and the commonly followed Engineering Design Process (EDP).
- Snowstorm in a Jar: Using water, oil, and effervescent tablets, students can create their own snowstorm in a jar. This interactive and visually stimulating activity introduces the concept of density to kindergarten students.
- Frozen Bubble Experiment: If you live in a cold climate, the frozen bubble experiment is the perfect way to teach students about what water does in cold temperatures. In this activity, students go outside and blow bubbles, watching them freeze in the air, changing from a liquid to a solid before their eyes.
- Ice Ornaments: This STEM winter activity combines students artistic and scientific side to create fun, holiday-themed holiday ornaments. Using each student’s favorite holiday items and ice, students can create their own ice ornaments that (depending on the state you live in) can hang from the trees in their front yard for the winter season.
Winter-Themed STEM Activities for Elementary Students
The elementary years of a student’s education are key to their confidence in the classroom, and help shape the type of student they will be at the middle school and high school levels. Parents and educators can play off the natural excitement for the holidays to get these students engaged in hands-on, winter-themed STEM activities that will help them improve their STEM literacy and feel confident in their STEM abilities. Here are some activities for the classroom or at-home:
- DIY Insulation Experiment: In this activity, students will use foil, cotton balls, bubblewrap, and other materials to insulate their box. Students can then observe which material is the best insulation, keeping their ice cube from melting the longest.
- Crystal Snowflakes: Using borax and hot water, students can create their own snowflakes overnight. During this lesson, parents and educators can talk with students about crystallization and how snowflakes form in nature.
- Build a Sled Challenge: Students are transformed into engineers when they are tasked with building their own sled using recycled materials. Once their sled is built, they can send their creation off jumps and ramps to see how durable and aerodynamic their design is.
- New Years Eve Confetti Cannon: Using a cardboard toilet paper tube, a balloon, duct tape, and confetti, students will create their own confetti cannon they can set off to celebrate the new year. This fun, engaging winter STEM lesson will get students excited to learn about potential energy, kinetic energy, and elasticity.
Winter-Themed STEM Activities for Middle School Students
By the time students reach middle school, they have a stronger understanding of many core STEM concepts. This deep understanding of the basics is what allows them to tackle more difficult STEM lessons. Below are winter STEM activities to challenge your middle school students:
- Burning Ice Experiment: In a controlled environment with parental supervision, students will see if using rubbing alcohol and other items can light ice on fire. To learn more about this activity and how you can effectively and safely implement it with students, click here.
- Digital Snowflake Design: Using online technology platforms, such as the Paper Snowflake Maker by RectangleWorld, students can strengthen their technology literacy skills, exercise their creative thinking skills, and dive into the world of geometry while designing their own snowflakes.
- Snowball Catapult: Middle school students are tasked with creating a catapult that can throw snowballs (or cotton balls) across the room. To create a competitive side to this winter STEM activity, students can see which catapult sends the snowball the farthest, noting what about the design makes it the best.
More STEM Resources for Your Classroom
Using the winter season to create themed lessons is a great way to keep students excited and engaged in the classroom curriculum. By connecting what they are learning to the time of year and the world around them, students will be more likely to actively participate in the lesson, leading to improved comprehension and retention.
