Christmas Grinch-Inspired Science Activities

It seems like the Christmas season more than any other brings out the creativity in teachers and proponents of playful learning. There are so many fun themed things you can do related to snowmen, Santa, elves and so much more.

Take the Grinch, for example. This collection of Grinch-inspired science activities from Read Science would be great to add to a grinch unit study where you also read the book, consider adjectives that might describe the grinch at different times in the story or rewrite the story, among other things.

That grinch playdough looks amazing, and sculpting a grinch out of playdough you made yourself adds art to the curriculum as well as science.

Have you ever done any grinch-related activities in the classroom or beyond? (That one about adjectives I stole from my daughter’s class, which did it this year.) I’d love to hear about them.

[Photo via Read Science.]

Check out our Online store for special buys on Educational gifts We find bulk items and end-of-stock supplies to bring you heavily discounted items. (make sure you check our store often so you don’t miss out on new stock). We also have some free printable files, including a Science PDF for learning about Microscopes.

Check out our DIY Grinch Gnome Craft over on our sister blog. Use Dollar Tree items to create a fun little Grinch decoration.

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Playdough Learning Activities

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!

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