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Keep students excited about STEM during the holiday season! Discover creative and fun winter STEM activities for students at ExploreLearning today. https://www.explorelearning.com/user_area/content_media/raw/fingerprint-ornaments.webp
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Creative Winter STEM Activities to Excite Students

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Children cut paper snowflakes on a white surface...

No matter where you live, you can embrace all-things winter with a flurry of easy STEM activities for any grade level. As the temperature drops, the excitement in the classroom rises with hands-on experiments, frosty challenges, and snow-inspired science that will spark curiosity and warm up young minds to the magic of learning. Join us on a journey through engaging ideas and creative STEM activities, where education meets exhilaration!

How to get students excited and engaged about STEM during the holiday season

The weeks before winter break are jam-packed for teachers, piled high with school celebrations, class parties, exams, grading, report cards, and eager students. Before some well-deserved rest, utilize the holiday season to incorporate STEM activities that are meaningful and fun (and easy to prep!).

When to incorporate STEM activities:

  • Morning work
  • Early finisher work
  • Free choice options
  • Stations
  • Whole-class lessons
  • Partner or small group work
  • Mixed grade level activities
  • Homework
  • Enrichment

Keep STEM activities relevant and interactive to be sure students stay engaged (and on-task!) while simultaneously learning content in step with your standards or curriculum.

Holiday STEM activities: Creative and fun ideas for all ages

Check out these ideas to infuse STEM with holiday-themed fun from kindergarten to 12th grade.

cutting out paper snowflakes

 Elementary winter STEM activities

Try these science, technology, engineering, and math activities in your classroom, or pair up with another grade level for fun collaboration (plus a great mentorship opportunity for upper-elementary students).

  • Decorate your classroom or hallway with large paper snowflakes. Students can use paper and melted crayons to get hands-on with symmetry and states of matter.
  • Enter the Gingerneering Challenge! Have your class put their engineering skills to the test to design and decorate a gingerbread house representing a significant STEM event.
  • Design virtual snowflakes while learning about axes of symmetry with the Holiday Snowflake Designer.
  • Create a winter storm in a glass to simulate clouds and precipitation.
  • Visit the playground to gather sticks, leaves, and other outdoor finds to make nature bookmarks that document winter.
  • Make Christmas and holiday-colored slime while learning about changes in matter.
  • Use candy canes for a STEM building challenge or a dissolving experiment.
  • Bring on the snow! Explore what happens to a Yeti and a group of snowmen when a sled’s acceleration, speed, and momentum change in the Sled Wars Gizmo.
  • Build number sense with a cookie roll game or develop fact fluency with adaptive online games.
  • Practice equivalent fractions with a s’mores game or space-themed Frax missions.

fingerprint ornaments

 Winter STEM activities for middle school and high school

Engage older students this holiday season with activities that encourage curiosity and critical thinking. From constructing snowflake-themed geometric shapes to experimenting with the science behind frost formation, these activities not only embrace the festive spirit but also foster a love for science, technology, engineering, and math in a fun and interactive way. Spark enthusiasm and curiosity in middle to high school students with these holiday-themed STEM activities.

  • Build inquiry skills with 12 Days of Gizmos virtual math and science simulations.
  • Can you set ice on fire? Find out with a burning ice experiment.
  • Host an “Around the Fire, Around the World” day. Display a virtual fireside background on your board and have students explore locations on Google Earth (be sure to check out the timelapse feature and Voyager tours). Task students with creating a presentation that summarizes their findings in alignment with your content standards (for example, the weather or latitude/longitude in different places).
  • Learn more about the winter solstice and observe the tilt of Earth’s axis with a virtual solstice lab.
  • Explore how seasons change in different locations and practice graphing with the Seasons Around the World Gizmo.
  • Prepare for math and science exams with 550+ virtual simulations that include built-in assessments and pre-made student activity sheets.
  • Have some extra time after testing? Plan a “Cocoa and Careers” class period. Warm up some hot chocolate and expose students to various STEM careers with a virtual career day from the comfort of your classroom.
  • Let students role-play as math and science professionals with real-life STEM Cases.
  • Build marshmallow catapults to bring potential and kinetic energy to life.
  • Create a fingerprint ornament after getting hands-on with forensic science through digital Fingerprinting and DNA Profiling labs and an investigation-based case study.

Keep students engaged all season (and year) long!

No matter the season, ExploreLearning can help with serious fun STEM solutions for grades K-12. 

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