STEM Activities for Christmas

It’s always fun to integrate the holidays and seasons into what you teach or the playful learning activities that are available for your kids or students to explore, which is why I love seasonal STEM and engineering challenges.

Plans for a Better Tomorrow has a great series (that’s ongoing right now, but you can see the basics of each idea on this post) of winter/Christmas STEM challenges, in which students are given supplies to make a specific thing, such as the tallest snowman or a fortress made out of marshmallows that can best withstand attack. So fun and clever!

Le Chaim on the Right has a great collection of 25 days of Christmas STEM ideas collected from around the Internet, and there’s a lot of fun stuff there. My daughter’s class did dissolving candy canes the other day and they all thought it was really cool. There’s also a snow storm in a jar, forming crystals on a Christmas tree, tinkering trees, Christmas light experiments for older kids and much more.

I’m certainly adding some of these to the list of winter break activities to have on hand for the girl!

[Photo via Le Chaim on the Right.]

Check out these Science Activity books

It is important to teach STEAM to children because it helps them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. STEM learning also helps children understand how the world works and how to apply that knowledge to real-world situations.

One of the most important benefits of STEAM learning is that it helps children develop critical thinking skills. STEM learning is all about finding creative solutions to problems, and this type of thinking is essential in today’s ever-changing world.

Another benefit of STEM learning is that it helps children understand how the world works. By understanding how scientific and mathematical concepts work, children can better understand the world around them. This knowledge can then be applied to real-world situations, such as environmental issues or designing a new product.

Finally, STEM learning is interesting and engaging for children. It helps them to see the world in a different way and to think about problems in new and innovative ways. This type of learning can spark a child’s curiosity and creativity, and lead to a lifelong love of learning.

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St. Patrick's Day STEM Project Ideas

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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