Category: Christmas

5 Snow STEM Activities

Looking for a winter themed STEM lesson? Check out these 5 Snow STEM activities that you can implement into your classroom. There is a variety from robot coding to quick hands-on activities. These lessons can be taught in whole group settings or within a station rotation model.

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.

This post contains affiliate links. When you purchase through the link, no extra cost to you, but I receive a kickback from purchases.

Snow STEM Activities | Watch the recording down below:

Snow STEM Activities | Sphero Snowflakes

A lesson that's been popular with 4th grade is Sphero Snowflakes. Using the Engineering Design Process, we explored the science and math behind snowflakes. Students plan their snowflake design using graph paper, then build on the floor using masking tape. The coding of Sphero involves a lot of angles and symmetry, which snowflakes have that in their design.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class!

Snow STEM Activities | Snowman States of Matter

Learn about the 3 states of matter & how to build the best snowman. Build your own snowman and use the corresponding states of matter activity and measurement activity.

Students will model what each of the states of matter are, according to a snowman.

For the next challenge, students will build a snowman as tall as they can and use different tools to measure their creation.

This is perfect for a station that students might rotate to throughout the week or even during a class party. The must-have material needed before getting started is playdough of some kind.

Click here to grab this for your class!

Snow STEM Activities | Winter Animal Migration

In this lesson, students learn about some animals that migrate in the winter time, why they migrate and where they go. I've typically taught this lesson to 2nd graders. Students will watch video clips and read various resources to research more about the animal of their choice from the list; walruses, salmon, sea turtles and monarch butterflies.

After taking notes, students will experiment and understand how the Ozobot robot works. Then, they will receive a map that corresponds with the animal they chose. Finally, they will code the winter migration path for their Ozobot animal.

Snow STEM Activities | Winter Olympics

This lesson also involves the Ozobot robot. Students will learn about some of the history of the Winter Olympics and where it's been held. This lesson I've typically taught 3rd graders and it doesn't have to be only taught during Olympic years. After researching about different Olympic years, students will find each location on a map.

Again, these students will also experiment with the Ozobot to understand how its coding system works. They will then code their Ozobot to travel to each Olympic location on a map in order of when it happened in history.

Snow STEM Activities | Igloo Building

For a quick, one day lesson with minimal materials, igloo building works well with younger students. Before building, we watched the video How Does an Igloo Keep You Warm? by Thinking Captain .

Using various blocks you may have on hand, students can build an igloo design. Some students wanted to ensure their design was circular and used recycled plastic tops from our Makerspace to build around.

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

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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

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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

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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!

5 Holiday Virtual Class Party Ideas

Celebrate the winter season with these virtual class party ideas. Of course being in person is amazing, but if that's not possible, there are some fun remote options. Check out these ideas and see which ones will work best for your class.

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.

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Watch the recording down below:

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Gift Wrap STEM Challenge

This will take a tiny amount of prep before the party date. All students need is wrapping paper, tape, a ruler & a small box. You can also print the Engineering Design Process notebook beforehand or just share digitally; up to you! One possibility is have a pick up station at school a few days before the party with the supplies. Make sure students know to not get into the items before the party.

In this STEM activity, students will determine the most effective method for wrapping a gift. There are three video tutorials included that students can watch and rewatch to help them wrap their box. Afterwards, they will unwrap the box and make some math calculations such as the area and perimeter of the paper used and pieces of tape.

Set a timer for students to choose their method and wrap their gift. After making their calculations, students can share out their findings using the discussion questions provided.

I used this lesson with my 4th and 5th grade classes and was successful. A lot of kids actually appreciated they knew how to properly wrap with wrapping paper too!

Click here to grab this STEM Challenge for your class!

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Virtual Field Trip

There is nothing wrong to having a classroom party being a bit educational. A virtual field trip can be a fun way to explore the world and have a shared experience. Below are some winter themed explorations that would be great for a holiday party.

Kenai Fjords National Park (ice and glaciers)
Frozen Ever After Ride (Disney ride)
Monterey Bay Penguin Camera (this is a quick stop)
National Museum of Computing (to celebrate December's Computer Science Week and Hour of Code)

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Scavenger Hunt

Get kids up and moving with a scavenger hunt and some competition. Before starting, the teacher will explain the rules and guidelines of the game. For an element of competition, the teacher can split the class up into teams and each team gets a point if every member finds the item. Or, it can be individually scored.

Next, the hunted item is displayed along with a timer. Students have the set amount of time to collect the item and bring it back to the meeting space. Be prepared of lots of laughter and creativity in this game!

Click here for the FREE scavenger hunt slides to use in your class.

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Sleigh Makerspace

Like the Gift Wrap Challenge, sending home materials a few days before the party can be helpful. All that is needed for this Sleigh Makerspace challenge is thin cardboard, straws and tape; which can commonly be found at home. While the challenge is to fit as many presents as possible in the sled by using unifix cubes, students can always make presents or fit various small toys they have instead.

As a class, students will learn about sled design and the difference between a sleigh and a sled. Next, students will have time to build their sleigh and make modifications based on the checklist provided.

If possible, create virtual breakout rooms where students can share their sled designs.

Click here to grab this Sleigh Challenge for your class!

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Virtual Bingo

Again, games are such a hit at children's parties! Try a virtual game of bingo. There are a few ways this can be delegated to your class depending on their age. When there is a winner, you can always send them a sheet of stickers in the mail, which would be fun to look forward to.

Using this Virtual Bingo Card Generator, you can type in your own list of words and it will create 30 different cards that you can send to your class using the provided link. Send this in your party chat box when ready to play.

2. This website also allows you to create a custom board or search through ones already created. Picture versions are included. You can only download 8 different boards, so there will be a few winners at the same time.

Consider sending the individual boards to students using Seesaw, Schoology, Google Classroom or the LMS your school uses.

3. Have students create their own boards! Model how to draw a grid and provide a word bank for students. They can fill in each of the spots by drawing and/or labeling.

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Holidays Around the World, Rotating Rooms

Have a team that you love planning with? When I taught 2nd grade my first couple years of teaching, this an idea we used while teaching in person. Try rotating rooms, virtual style. Benefits to this is the teacher only has only activity to worry about and switches into the Zoom code, which the kids stay where they are. It's a nice change to meet with other kids and also make your experience amazing since it's the only one you're teaching.

The above activities can be hosted in each of the rooms or even a Holidays Around the World Experience could be meaningful.

Each teacher would teach about a different holiday from around the world. This can be done by:

short video clip
reading a story about the holiday (there are many options on Epic! Books)
playing a game as a class from the holiday
participating in a short craft or directed drawing experience

This graphic organizer can be a way for students to keep track of their learning through this cultural experience. There are printable and digital options.

Click here to grab the graphic organizer for your class!

3 Easy Holiday STEM Decorations

Let's get festive for the holidays with these easy STEM decorations! All of these ideas are low-prep and have a nice STEM-twist. Whether you are teaching in the classroom or want a fun virtual background, these ideas will get you into the holiday spirit!

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.

STEM Decorations | Watch the recording down below:

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

Cut & Hang Bulletin Board

It always seems like that during the holidays, there is a bulletin board or door decoration competition to compete in. Or maybe, it's been awhile since the Halloween decorations have been switched out.

Working virtually? These also make for a fun, festive background while teaching.

I've saved you creative-time with this idea. Print, cut out, and hang these decorative pieces for your next bulletin board or door. They can be printed in color or onto colored paper. Of course laminating the pieces so they can be used year after year is also helpful!

Click here for the Let It Code bulletin board kit.

Larger Than Life STEM Characters

Make sure to have ample floor space for this project (and no furry friends or kids running around!). Think about the STEM tools that are used the most in your classroom and ones that kids love. Some ideas might include: LEGO Mini Figures, robots and technology-tools. Create life-sized versions of these to hang in your room for the holidays. Or even year round!

Head on over to your favorite craft store to grab colored poster board to make your creation. Scared of messing up? Sketch what you want each of the pieces to look like on a scratch piece of paper. Notice how each piece is a simple shape that can be cut out, then put together to make the larger design.

See how I created the Dash Robot and a large LEGO Mini-Figure of myself HERE!

Cardboard Maker Tree

Create a makerspace themed tree for your classroom by using this free template. All the materials you need are:

cardboard tube
thin cardboard (think: cereal boxes, pasta boxes, soda can boxes…)
recycled container (for the tree to stand up in)
scissors
razor
tape and/or hot glue gun
(optional) clear plastic ornaments found at craft stores
(optional) small makerspace/STEM type items to fill the ornaments with

To add another layer of the holidays into your room, gift wrap STEM & Winter themed books and place them under the tree. Every day leading up to winter break, unwrap a book each day to count down. It's your own book advent calendar!

Want to find the perfect way to wrap a gift? Try this Gift Wrap STEM Challenge with your class!

Have a great holiday season with a bit of STEM Style!

Winter STEM Activities Kids Will Love

Try these Winter STEM Activities in your classroom that the kids will love. Make the chilly days feel warmer by sparking creativity. There are a variety of low-prep, hands-on activities to try.

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.

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

Winter STEM Activities | Watch the recording down below:

Sphero Sleds

A Sphero Lesson Plan where students go through the Engineering Design Process. A lesson where students create a sled for Sphero and code to pull it through the Iditarod Dog Race!

Throughout this challenge, students will learn about sled design and apply that to their work. While coding through the race, the use of angles and sped will help determine if Sphero can successfully travel through the maze.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class!

Gift Wrap STEM Challenge

STEM activity with student Engineering Design Process printables & digital pages to help determine the most effective method for wrapping a gift. An area and perimeter activity that can be used year round.

Using the 3 videos provided, students are to pick one of the wrapping methods shown. Then, they actually wrap the gift with the method.

Afterwards, students will unwrap the gift and count how much tape was used, and the area and perimeter of the paper on the box. Encourage students to write on the wrapping paper to show their work.

Once students calculate their wrapping paper numbers, have students compare their results to determine which wrapping method might be best. There will be a lot of debate on this topic!

I found packs of smaller boxes at the Dollar Store for kids to wrap so that all the boxes were the same size. I had wrapping paper I bought on sale from the previous year. Or even asking for donations would be an alternative to get more wrapping paper for this challenge.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class!

Playdough Snowmen | 3 States of Matter & Measurement

Learn about the 3 states of matter & how to build the best snowman. Build your own snowman and use the corresponding states of matter activity and measurement activity.

Students will model what each of the states of matter are, according to a snowman.

For the next challenge, students will build a snowman as tall as they can and use different tools to measure their creation.

This is perfect for a station that students might rotate to throughout the week or even during a class party. The must-have material needed before getting started is playdough of some kind.

Click here to grab this for your class!

Toothpick Snowflakes | Angles & Symmetry

There is a lot of science behind how snowflakes are made in nature. Learn how snowflakes are made, build a snowflake with toothpicks and solve math problems by using your design!

After planning and building their snowflake design, students will modify their work and record the following math observations:

intersecting lines
acute angles
obtuse angles
right angles
straight angles
perpendicular lines
parallel lines
lines of symmetry

This lesson works well either whole group or as a math station that students travel to throughout the week.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class!

Ten on the Sled | STEM & Stories

STEM activity with student Engineering Design Process printables & digital pages to accompany the book Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman. A Winter STEM activity for Kindergarten, 1st, & 2nd grades.

Connecting STEM & literacy is a great ways to boost students' reading comprehension by helping them remember the story.

After listening to the story, students will watch a video about sled design to inspire their creations. Next, students will build their sled that needs to fit all ten animals out of popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and straws. I didn't use tape to add an extra challenge and encourage kids to think about their materials in a way they haven't before.

For the animals, I printed out the included images and had kids cut and tape them onto unifix cubes or LEGO pieces. This allows the animals to stand up on the sled.

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
Pumpkin STEM Activities & Technology Lessons by Naomi Meredith
STEM & Stories Lesson for After the Fall by Naomi Meredith

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

How Selfies Can Transform Student Gift Giving

Every year as a classroom teacher, I always stressed out about having the perfect gift for my students to give to their families during the holidays or at the end of the school year. As a person who enjoys giving gifts myself, I try to ensure that my gifts are purposeful and unique.

I believed in the same concept as to what I was going to have my kids make. While I am a big fan of crafting, with 24 children, it can go bad real quick. Also thinking about how much it was going to cost each student to make their gift can get expensive!

After some thoughtful planning, I thought of a way to integrate students' use of technology into their family a gift to save time, money and still create something personal.

That's where I came up with the Selfie Station Calendar. With a new year approaching, a calendar is very useful! I know that teachers will often times have their kids decorate each month with a little art project, but honestly, that seemed like a lot of work to me.

Instead, each month was decorated with their child and different props to represent each month. My first year doing this project, I brought in some items like sunglasses, hats, and all sorts of crazy stuff and a parent helped me take 12 different themed pictures of each child. As this project evolved each year, it's been more student centered and less work for me. After all, it's THEIR gift that that students are giving to parents!

What did you use for the calendar?

I created a calendar template for each month using Google Slides. The top portion I left empty for students to insert their pictures. I shared this template with the students in my class using Google Classroom so that it made a copy for each one of them. This also was great management when students needed tech support and I could hop onto their piece and work with them to solve the problem.

When the calendars were finished, I could easily find each students' name and print. Another added bonus was for students who had divorced parents, I could easily print multiple copies and they didn't physically have to make more than two.

What did you use for the props?

As I mentioned in the beginning, my first year doing this project, I brought in all sorts of random stuff I found at home and in my classroom. Any costume item that I owned was in my room for over a week. As this project evolved, I actually created my own printable props that were themed for each season of the year.

This actually turned out a lot better because students had more prop choices for their photos, I could store them easier in just one file in my filing cabinet, and they actually turned out to be more vibrant and photogenic!

I printed and cut out each theme, sorted them by months and wrote in pencil on the back which month the prop represented. I then sorted the months around the room and students would grab one prop at a time to take their photo for that month.

How did they actually add their pictures?

Since students were working with a Google Slide and using their Chromebooks to do so, there is a feature within Slides that allows you to take an insert a photo within the application. {It's funny because this used to be an original feature, it was taken away, but now it's back.}

Students helped one another face their computer camera at the proper angle to take a picture for each month of their calendar and then insert in to template.

You can have students make their own calendar or work together collaboratively and have a class calendar! That way, you will only need to print one!

How did you manage their projects to ensure they were finished in time?

Since my 3rd graders hadn't ever done a gift like this before, there was a huge amount of buy in. They also thought that the props and my example calendar was funny so they were super excited to make their own. I also started this project the month before break so I could print and bind each calendar and then have students wrap them. That way if students were absent, I had plenty of time for them to make to make it up.

As far as the prop management went, I told students that they didn't necessarily have to go in order for their calendar. That way not all the January props were gone at once!

We worked on these for about 30 minutes a day for 3 days and the majority of my class was finished. Those who finished quicker were able to help others or even type in important events within their calendar.

How much did this gift cost you?

Zero dollars. That's right! Since I made the props and calendar template myself, it was free-99. I also had the benefit of having colored card stock paper to print on for the props and binding I could use to bind the calendars.

I did have to print in black and white a couple of years because of restrictions we had on our school's color printer. They still looked really cute! I also told the kids that they could definitely print in color at home and send to other family members as well.

I know that the cost might vary for different classrooms, especially if you use my template and props to get you all set up. Overall, this is a low cost project that is highly engaging for your students. There was a reason why I did it many years in a row. The families absolutely LOVED them!

How have you used a selfie station in your classroom? Let me know and send me a message on Instagram @marvelousmsm

Stay marvelous!

Naomi from Marvelous Ms. Meredith

5 Snow STEM Activities

Snow STEM Activities | Watch the recording down below:

Snow STEM Activities | Sphero Snowflakes

Snow STEM Activities | Snowman States of Matter

Snow STEM Activities | Winter Animal Migration

Snow STEM Activities | Winter Olympics

Snow STEM Activities | Igloo Building

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

Winter STEM Activity & Book Pairing Guide

Winter STEM Activity | Watch the recording down below:

Winter STEM Activity | Ten on the Sled

Winter STEM Activity | Gingerbread Man Boats

Winter STEM Activity | Snowmen at Night

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

5 Holiday Virtual Class Party Ideas

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Watch the recording down below:

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Gift Wrap STEM Challenge

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Virtual Field Trip

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Scavenger Hunt

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Sleigh Makerspace

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Virtual Bingo

Virtual Class Party Ideas | Holidays Around the World, Rotating Rooms

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

3 Easy Holiday STEM Decorations

STEM Decorations | Watch the recording down below:

Cut & Hang Bulletin Board

Larger Than Life STEM Characters

Cardboard Maker Tree

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

Winter STEM Activities Kids Will Love

Winter STEM Activities | Watch the recording down below:

Sphero Sleds

Gift Wrap STEM Challenge

Playdough Snowmen | 3 States of Matter & Measurement

Toothpick Snowflakes | Angles & Symmetry

Ten on the Sled | STEM & Stories