15 Wonderful Winter STEM Activities

Description
Build the tallest snowman from paper – or change it up and build for max volume or surface area. Feeling really wild? Build the tallest inverted snowman. (See video walk-through or resource linked below for more ideas.)

Why I Love It
First, you can do it with just paper, scissors and tape, which is always a win. I love that there are serious math connections to be had with 3D solids, measurement, surface area, volume and more, or you can keep it simple and just go for the tallest snowman!

Description
Build a sled and a slope that propels the sled the farthest distance possible & keeps its inhabitants safely inside. Students can try designing different sleds, angles of slope and materials to achieve the max distance safely traveled.

Why I Love It
This is so much fun and there’s a lot of trial and error to find the best combination. This easily connects science standards for force & motion, friction, potential & kinetic energy. I also love that you can make this Santa’s sleigh & slope, if you’re looking for a Christmas STEM activity.

Description
Design and build a “snowball” fortress wall with two main criteria: greatest area (or just height or length for younger students) and ability to withstand a “snowball” attack.

Why I Love It
Because students love it so much! This is another one with great math connections (see video linked below). It’s great winter fun & you can even have them build snowball launchers for the snowball attack if you want to double up the STEM here!

Description
Design and build reindeer antlers. Students are then grouped for a reindeer relay race in which they use their antlers to transport and hand-off Christmas decorations.*

Why I Love It
STEM challenges & relay races are truly my favorite. There is so much joy and so much investment in creating great designs. This doesn’t have to be a Christmas STEM challenge either. See below for a winter modification. ⬇️

Description
Build a way to safely “mail” two candy canes in one paper bag package without breakage. For bonus points, make it as light-weight as possible to avoid higher shipping fees!

Why I Love It
This is a real-life problem we all face — how to get a package somewhere safely for the least amount of money possible. This is yet another challenge that comes with tons of math goodness. See the YouTube video below for ideas. ⬇️

Description
Build a snow scoop designed for maximum capacity and/or maximum efficiency. Measure by largest volume scoop or time it takes to clear a path in a “snowy” field.

Why I Love It
The variety of designs you’ll see for this challenge will blow your mind. I love the connections to volume, measuring weight, and simple machines (levers).

Description
Build waiters’ trays designed to hold “snowy” 3D solids in an indoor relay race.

Why I Love It
So. Much. Math! Plus, I’ve already told you how much I love a relay race. This one is typically held indoor with some special parameters. I explain it all in the YouTube video linked below. ⬇️

Description
Design the “iciest” tree possible by packing it full of triangular icicles! For younger students, you can focus on shape creation & manipulation, measurement, and addition. For older students, focus on triangle classification by sides and angles, layering icicles, assigning point value based on area, etc. See YouTube video below for more ideas! ⬇️

Why I Love It
If you’ve every gotten bored teaching all the things about triangles, this is a much more fun way to do it! Plus, the frosted forest you get when all the groups’ designs are completed creates a home-made winter wonderland in your classroom!

Description
Students randomly select a Christmas-themed object, material & function and plan a design to match.

Why I Love It
First, no materials needed! This activity really pushes students’ creativity, critical thinking and planning skills. There are 336 combinations possible, so you get a lot of bang for your buck here!

Description
Students randomly select a winter-themed object, material & function and plan a design to match.

Why I Love It
Same as above: no special materials needed & really gets students thinking and being creative! Plus, it’s another 336 possible combinations.

Description
Sometimes we want to give a gift to someone – or even ourselves – but we don’t have any money. Why not make your own toys?! That’s just what students do in the Homemade Hoops, Can’t-Miss Bowling, and Fore Quick Builds!

Why I Love It
A quick build in STEM is like a quick write in ELA: Students will not go all the way through the engineering design process; instead, they will choose a challenge and quickly “draft” a design to build. The focus of these activities is primarily on the build, so it doesn’t take as long as a full STEM challenge!

Description
Students design a gift box to hold cubes or an actual gift. It’s tougher than it looks!

Why I Love It
This is another from my Quick Build collections. I love that there are two options, so students choose the level of challenge they want for themselves.

Description
Build two devices: one to slow the melting process (Keep it Cool) and one to speed it up (Make it Melt).

Why I Love It
It’s a great way to introduce insulators and conductors of heat as well as heat energy & transfer. If you try this challenge once in the winter and again close to summer, it’s really fun to see how students work with the outside temperature changes!

Description
Design and build multi-functional furniture, or furnish an entire apartment.

Why I Love It
This challenge was created as a way to celebrate Black History Month and/or Women’s History Month in science class. The premise is inspired by Sarah E. Goode’s 1885 invention of the folding cabinet bed. She was one of the first African-American women to obtain a patent for her invention!

Description
Students will create groundhog shadows, searching for the perfect combinations of light source angles, distances, and even groundhog accessories to meet the specified shadow criteria & constraints. Shadows will be traced and and turned into street art/graffiti.

Why I Love It
Will winter continue or is spring on the way? There are so many places to take this challenge between the art, weather patterns, shadow & light, and even legends & traditions. Check out the YouTube video below for ideas! ⬇️