Christmas STEM Activities & Challenges

From engineering Christmas trees to fun Christmas STEM challenges, we have been having a great time with Christmas STEM activities! Who said you can’t do STEM with a fun holiday twist! Explore science, engineering, technology and mathematics with these easy to do ideas. Simple materials, simple play but big opportunities for learning, creating, and exploring with our Christmas STEM ideas for kids!

CHRISTMAS STEM PROJECTS FOR KIDS

CHRISTMAS STEM

Many of the following Christmas STEM activities include one or more of the different components of STEM learning. However, I tried to break them up into different sections to give you a better idea of how to include that component of STEM into the activity!

These Christmas STEM activities below are really quite easy and use just a few common kitchen and laundry ingredients. Don’t be intimidated! Look around your house or classroom for suitable and inexpensive supplies. Think cups, cards, straws, play dough and more…

I am always amazed at how much we learn from creative STEM challenges. and these Christmas STEM projects are perfect for budding engineers and scientists. They are also terrific frugal play ideas that will encourage imagination, free thinking and curiosity in kids!

CHRISTMAS STEM ACTIVITIES

Please click on the red links below to take you to the full project supplies list and instructions.

CHRISTMAS STEM: SCIENCE

CHRISTMAS BATH BOMBS

Chemistry in the bathtub with fizzing Christmas candy cane bath bombs you can make easily with the kids. Explore a cool chemical reaction between an acid and base while you get clean! Or make to use as homemade Christmas gifts.

CRYSTAL SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENT

Make these crystal snowflake ornaments with a simple borax crystal experiment. We also made science ornaments with our crystal candy cane experiment!

CHRISTMAS SLIME

Slime is simpler to make then you might think and it is awesome science too. Our no-fail homemade slime works every time! From Rudolph to the Grinch, candy canes to Christmas trees, and everything in between. Get creative and pick your favorite ways to celebrate Christmas with these fun holiday slime ideas. Plus, it’s the perfect STEM activity for kids as well!

EVERGREEN OOBLECK

2 ingredient oobleck is easy science any time! Also try snowflake oobleck! This is a great science experiment for kids of all ages!

Melting Christmas Trees

Common kitchen cupboard ingredients make this a super fun activity! We also have melting snowmen!

If you want an even quicker version, grab a few Christmas tree shaped cookie cutters, place on a cookie tray, and fill with baking soda. Add a container of green vinegar, glitter, and an eye dropper for a fun and easy Christmas science experiment!

CHRISTMAS MAGIC MILK

We all know Santa loves his milk and cookies and of course, he would have to have magic milk for Christmas! Explore the magic of Christmas with a magical science experiment.

MILK AND VINEGAR ORNAMENTS

Who would have thought you could make these pretty ornaments from milk and vinegar? Combine science and art this holiday season with a fun Christmas STEAM project. Get the kids making their own easy science ornaments to hang on the tree.

RESEARCHING MY CHRISTMAS TREE

Learn about the Christmas tree you choose for the holiday season this year with our free printable worksheet!

Looking for easy to print activities, and inexpensive problem-based challenges?

We have you covered…

—>>> FREE STEM Activities For Christmas

CHRISTMAS STEM: TECHNOLOGY

For younger kids technology can be a bit tough to work in when they may still need assistance with many things and may not yet be able to read! However, there are still tons of great STEM ideas below for you to try!

Although not a Christmas STEM challenge, our gumdrop building activity is a great example of using technology to help us understand bridge building! Look what else we found to try below…

CHRISTMAS CODING GAME

Computer coding for kids without the computer! Learn about algorithms with a simple, screen free printable Christmas coding game! Print out three different difficulty levels and have a blast with the kids.

CHRISTMAS CODING ORNAMENT

Learn all about the binary code as you make these fun Christmas tree ornaments. There’s a printable to help you along the way too!

CHRISTMAS STEM: ENGINEERING

3D CHRISTMAS TREE

There is so much you can do with a few sheets of paper and wrapping ribbon. I love simple STEAM projects that look amazing but don’t take a ton of time, supplies, or craftiness to do! Our 3D Christmas tree is a great combination of engineering, art, and math that you can easily do at home or in the classroom.

FOAM CHRISTMAS TREE

We also have another version of a holiday theme geo board to check out!

Icy Christmas Tree

Use icy blocks to build a tree! There’s a bit of math involved too!

BUILD A CARDBOARD CHRISTMAS TREE

Super simple STEM with leftover cardboard, this Christmas STEM activity is perfect for quiet play, down time, or at a relatives house!

First, we cut triangles and made slits half way down. To make a tree, make sure to cut out two large triangular pieces {math}. Make a slit from the top down for one triangle and make a slit from the bottom up for the other triangle. Make sure to stop halfway.

For the little triangles, we cut out a bunch and made a slit half way from the bottom up! You can make any shape you want!

CHRISTMAS STEM CHALLENGE: PLAYDOUGH AND STRAWS

Play dough and straws are a classic way to explore building structures and engineering concepts. A little bit of green playdough and Christmasy colored straws are a fun way to build a Christmas tree!

CHECK OUT: Homemade Playdough Recipes

Talk about angles, corners, sides, stable bases and so much more! How tall can you build it? Can you make a triangle inside a triangle. What’s a 3D shape? This activity opened up so many areas to discuss and explore together!

CHRISTMAS CUP CHALLENGE

This is an awesome Christmas STEM challenge for kids that they are certain to love! The picture really says it all! Build with cups! How tall can you make your tree before it falls? What kind of base is best? Ours needed some cheer so we decorated it!

SANTA’S BALLOON ROCKET

3-2-1 blast off! What happens when you use a balloon to power Santa’s sled? Will he make his rounds in time or will he fall flat ?The kids are going to love this super easy to set up Christmas STEM challenge.

CHRISTMAS STEM: MATH

Note: For many of these activities we counted our supplies, explored shapes, patterns, and sizes! You can find more Christmas math activities with all sorts of holiday themes.

Measuring Evergreen Branches

We practiced using a ruler, scissors and tweezers to examine our Christmas tree’s evergreen branches.

CHRISTMAS TESSELLATIONS

Color the pattern and then work out how to tesselate the gingerbread houses for a fun and easy Christmas Math activity. Free Christmas tessellations printable included!

CHRISTMAS TREE GEO BOARD

Explore geometry with a tree shaped geo board! This is a great science experiment for preschool and toddler aged children.

3D CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

These 3D Christmas ornaments are easy to make with our free printable Christmas ornament template. What shapes do you think of as Christmas shapes? Of course, baubles or sphere shapes come to mind first! But there are many more shapes to explore with this Christmas ornament activity.