Winter STEM Activity & Book Pairing Guide

Need an easy to implement Winter STEM Activity? Try pairing it with a children's book you might already have! Literacy and STEM go well together. It's a great way to enhance student's comprehension of the story in a hands-on way. Keep your students engaged in a different way while easily implementing STEM into your classroom.

This video originally aired LIVE on my Facebook Page; Naomi Meredith: The STEMTech Co. 

Come and join in on the fun on Facebook, or watch the recording of this episode.

Amazon Affiliate links are included for each of the books listed. While purchasing through my link, it's no extra cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return. 

Winter STEM Activity  | Watch the recording down below:

 

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

 

Winter STEM Activity  | Ten on the Sled

This rhyming story takes younger students on a quick winter adventure. The animals all try to clamor onto the sled throughout the story; all 10 of them!

For this STEM challenge, students go through the Engineering Design Process for this challenge: How can you build a sled that fits all 10 animals on top? Students will first learn about sled design and plan how they want their creation to look like. Once their plan is ready, students can start to build.

Minimal materials are needed:

• popsicle sticks
• pipe cleaners
• straws
• unifix cubes (to tape the animal images onto)

Tape isn't one of the materials listed; that definitely makes this a challenge for students (in a positive way). This allows students to learn how to bend, twist and connect the pipe cleaners, which might be a skill they aren't used to.

While testing their design, students will try to fit all 10 animals on top. While the sled doesn't have to be functional, that can be a great next step fro this challenge.

Click here to grab this lesson for you class! 

Winter STEM Activity  | Gingerbread Man Boats

This STEM challenge can go along with any version of the Gingerbread Man you may have in your classroom. I know I have a quite a few versions myself!

Based on some of the more original versions of the story, the Gingerbread Man comes to the river at the end and climbs on the fox's back to try and make it across. Well, we all know what happens next….

What if there was an alternate ending? Students can create a solution to this new ending and help the Gingerbread Man have an engineer mindset instead.

Students will use their knowledge about sinking and floating and design an invention that will help the Gingerbread Man cross the river. SciShow Kids have a great YouTube video about sinking & floating for younger students.

Provide various Makerspace materials to choose from. Here are some that were available when I tried this with students: 

• bubble wrap
• cardboard scraps
• straws
• masking tape
• small plastic cups
• recycled plastic lids
• aluminum foil
• wooden blocks
• popsicle sticks

Having items that also sink and those that also float at first, but get logged with water (paper) is helpful as students make their decision and test their designs.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class!

 

Winter STEM Activity  | Snowmen at Night

Again, this STEM challenge can be used with any of the Snowmen at Night series or other snowman books you have in your classroom library. This lesson uses robots, again, can be any moving type your classroom has. Don't have any robots? Here is my ultimate list of suggestions to check out! 

There are various images of snowmen dressed up in different outfits. Using the cards provided, students will place them on a grid or whichever layout they desire. Next, students will code the robot to build and dress the snowman in order that would make sense.

For example, if the image of the snowman show them wearing glasses, glasses wouldn't be collected first because there is no where to put them! By using the image to help visualize, students will reverse engineer the order the snowman should be built, then decorated. Of course, there are multiple solutions to each snowman image card which makes this a great challenge for students.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class! 

 

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

• Best Robots for Kids for STEM & Technology Lessons by Naomi Meredith
• Winter STEM Activities Kids Will Love by Naomi Meredith
• STEM & Technology Holiday Gift Guide for Kids by Naomi Meredith

 

What questions do you have about these activities? Have any other ideas to share? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!