Don’t leave out Thanksgiving when you think of STEM challenges! We have a super fun and easy Thanksgiving STEM activity! Building cranberry structures. Before you turn a bag of cranberries into cranberry sauce test out your engineering skills first. Cranberry structures make a perfect, quick Thanksgiving science activity.

THANKSGIVING STEM ACTIVITY BUILDING CRANBERRY STRUCTURES!

This is the time of year for cranberries! Grab a bag of them along with a box of toothpicks and see what kind of cranberry structures you can build with your kids!

This simple Thanksgiving STEM activity is included in our Thanksgiving science experiments and activities collection you won’t want to miss. Scroll down to see more!

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Make cranberry sauce when you are finished and you won’t have any waste! You can also try our Cranberry Sensory Science Bin.

SIMPLE SUPPLIES:

Bag of Fresh Cranberries

Toothpicks

Flat Surface

WHAT WILL YOU BUILD WITH THIS THANKSGIVING STEM ACTIVITY?

SIMPLE IDEAS TO TRY

Building houses…

Building shapes…

Making towers…

Making people…

Building Letters and numbers…

or have your kids copy what you make if they need encouragement!

These types of building ideas make great STEM projects for kids of multiple ages. You can transform a classic STEM activity like this one into any holiday using different materials that represent the holiday. Check out more ways to build structures here.

Hint: Gumdrops are a great choice for Christmas

 What is STEM? STEM is science, technology, engineering, and math. Set your kids up for the future by adding simple projects like this one to your everyday play and learning. STEM projects provide valuable life lessons. Plus, tons of STEM activities, like this one, can be set up inexpensively.

Toothpicks and small cranberries encourage visual and fine motor skills for kids as well as motor planning. Finger dexterity and patience are a plus when building cranberry structures! Make sure to check out our cranberry water science activity too.

Problem solving, counting, and designing are all a part of building structures!

Engineering activities like these are so much fun and use simple materials. We have used gum drops too. Don’t want to use food? You can always use play dough, styrofoam balls, or pool noodle pieces.

We also had fun finding the extra squishy cranberries and popping them! Try using a plastic knife {if appropriate} to cut open cranberries and check out the seeds. You can even paint with the juices.

Look what happens when you provide kids with a simple STEM activity. So many ways to learn.

BUILDING CRANBERRY STRUCTURES FOR THANKSGIVING STEM

Click on the photo below to see more fun ideas for Thanksgiving STEM!