Christmas-Winter – STEM Challenges

Christmas / Winter STEM Challenges

Christmas STEM Challenges & Winter STEM Challenges are sure to engage your students in brain-busting work disguised as fun! And let’s face it — it’s tough keeping students working and learning right up to the winter break.

From this hub page, you will find everything you need to know about all five Christmas / Winter STEM challenges: links to resources, blog posts, video walk-throughs, and teacher feedback on each resource.

Christmas / Winter STEM Challenge Basics:

Students work in partners or groups against criteria & constraints lists to design and build Winter/Christmas-themed devices. Modification suggestions are included to make these challenges engaging and productive for students in grades 2 – 8.

The two more Christmas-themed challenges, Reindeer Relay and Candy Cane Calamity, even come with ideas to take away the holiday theme so anyone & everyone can participate! Details are explained in the walk-through videos.

Teacher Feedback on the Christmas / Winter Bundle

My students loved these challenges and I loved that they were so engaged in learning and problem solving at what is typically a very distracting time of the year. Thank you!

Kimberly C.-Christmas/Winter Bundle

Once again this seller/educator does not disappoint! Awesome STEM challenges with video clips, ways to make them more challenging and so well explained!! Love them! The kids had a blast too!

H4Teacher-Christmas/Winter Bundle

VERY easy to follow and adaptable to all ages. My kids love it!

Buyer 1/26/17-Christmas/Winter Bundle

Very easy to use with clear directions and materials list. The kids are always engaged!

Williamson’s Fun in Fifth-Christmas/Winter Bundle

These were high interest and a lot of fun for my class that last week before Christmas! Highly recommend!

Shelley C.-Christmas/Winter Bundle

My students loved these hands on activities as we prepared for winter break!

Christine S.-Christmas/Winter Bundle

Great STEAM projects! The kids enjoyed, cheap materials, and easy set up.

Jamie F.-Christmas/Winter Bundle

This year we had a weird 2 days of school before Christmas break. The students were checked out and had no desire to be at school. When I saw this activity I was so excited to do this with my class. I had the students do 4 of these in one day. They were engaged and excited to be at school that day. It was such a great day. Each project is well thought out and leaves room for creativity. My students LOVED it.

Donna H.-Christmas/Winter Bundle

Reindeer Relay

Working against a criteria/constraints list, each student will 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.

– To save time, have each student build just one antler. During the relay race, they will share with their teammates so each person “running” will have two antlers to hold on their head.

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

See the video walk-through for details to make this a non-holiday challenge.

Teacher Feedback on Reindeer Relay

My 8th graders loved doing this in class. We had extra time before break to do a few stem activities and this was their favorite one! Thanks!

Emily P.-Reindeer Relay

We used this for a last-day activity for the 4th and 5th grade. The students loved it! Highly recommend. Thank you!

Lisa O.-Reindeer Relay

This was hands down the most fun we've had with a STEM challenge all year. We laughed so hard! We also did Sleigh and Slope which was also very fun! We loved both so much we decided to keep our antlers and sleighs displayed all year. Thank you!

Ashlee R.-Reindeer Relay

Fun, engaging, and thought-provoking! My students report this as one of their favorite activities of the year. It gave us great teamwork and critical thinking while being a lot of fun.

Kindled Minds-Reindeer Relay

This was my absolute favorite STEM project this year! So engaging and the kids worked so well together to come up with creative ideas!

Debbie R.-Reindeer Relay

So much fun watching the kids engage in this. Thank you!!!

Wendi R.-Reindeer Relay

This is one of the best activities I've ever paid for here on TPT. My students LOVED LOVED LOVED this and we had great discussions about design thinking.

Jennifer Y.-Reindeer Relay

Working against a criteria/constraints list individually or in partners, students will design and build a way to safely “mail” two candy canes in one paper bag package without breakage. (Note: cookies can be substituted for candy canes.)

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Candy Cane Calamity

My students had a blast with this! I love to use this the week before winter break and the students are completely engaged!

Andrea C.-Candy Cane Calamity

My school does a STEM day each month! This one got the best reviews and reactions from students! Will use again next year!

Buyer 5/18/18-Candy Cane Calamity

This is exactly what I was looking for to use on those last couple of days before winter break. It was easy to set up and clean up, and did not require many materials (I don't like trash in my room...this is often a problem I encounter when planning STEM activities.)

Rose D.-Candy Cane Calamity

I can't wait to use this with my first graders! They love STEM and this is one project that is completely accessible to them. LOVE IT! 🙂

Elainna F.-Candy Cane Calamity

Another easy to use STEM activity that my kids loved!

Shawdee G.-Candy Cane Calamity

My students really loved this activity. It was a great real world issue for them to solve.

Nellie H.-Candy Cane Calamity

My students loved completing this challenge! They enjoyed the friendly competition in creating a package that would withstand the bumps and I appreciated the reflective pieces included to spark some meaningful conversation. Thanks!

Karianne D.-Candy Cane Calamity

My 2nd graders ADORED this activity! We tested from three different heights to ensure "success" for my 2nd graders. First, they dropped it from the top of a bookshelf. Next, they stood on a desk and dropped it from as high as they could reach. Finally, we went into the stairwell and they dropped from one floor to the floor below. I was surprised by how many candy canes survived the first 2 drops, but only one design survived the third drop! Thanks for such a fun activity!

Barbra H.-Candy Cane Calamity

Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

Working against a criteria/constraints list in partners or groups, students will build a sleigh and ramp designed to transport the sleigh the greatest possible distance. (Note: there is a “Sled & Slope” version of student handouts in case you prefer a winter / non-Christmas activity included in the resource.)

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

I like how this could be used as a sled for after winter break.

Kate W.-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

This was super easy to adapt for my younger students. They loved it!

Denise S.-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

I just did this activity with my 8th grade class. It went very well, I very much appreciated the follow up questions and extensions. Thank you.

Deborah T.-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

My 5th graders and their 1st grade STEM buddies really enjoyed this activity! 🙂

Melissa-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

My kids LOVED this! They were SO engaged and came up with some amazing designs! Thanks!

Robyn C.-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

Perfect for Cross-curricular project. The science teacher and I enjoyed it and will do it again this year!

Allison C.-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

My second-graders had a great time with this challenge. It fit in well with our unit on motion, position and force. Thanks!

Creativity Unchained-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

My classes loved these activities. They were discussing and figuring out ways to improve their projects too. They learned a lot from these.

Tonya W.-Sleigh (or Sled) & Slope

Working against a criteria/constraints list individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build the tallest free-standing snowman possible. (Option 2: Students design and build a snowman of greatest volume possible.)

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Snowman Stretch

Great unit. Mind stretching.

Suzanne B.-Snowman Stretch

My GT students really enjoyed this activity. I used it as a challenge on the first day back from the holidays. Great ideas for differentiation, also. Thanks.

Hill Country Creations-Snowman Stretch

This was a great "last day of school before Christmas break" activity. Thank you the students had a great deal of fun and used a great deal of creativity!

Sandra M.-Snowman Stretch

This was so much fun! I love that this included a math portion along with writing about the activity.

Michele C.-Snowman Stretch

Great STEM challenge. Easy to set up as well!

Fourth Grade Feats-Snowman Stretch

I love that the materials are simple for this STEM activity. It will reinforce a previous concept in science and can easily fit into a day at the end of the week when the classes finish a unit earlier than expected. That is a tremendous help!

Rebecca S.-Snowman Stretch

Love this STEM challenge; but more importantly, so did my students. They said that this was amazing. 🙂

April P.-Snowman Stretch

Working against a criteria/constraints list in partners or groups, students will 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.

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Frozen Fortress

This was such a great activity! I was able to successfully do this activity across a wide variety of grade levels!

Kara J.-Frozen Fortress

This was a fun STEM activity that my kids really got into! I love that you encourage revisiting the activity again to see what could be done better or how they would change their design. Thanks for all your hard work on these STEM challenges - they are wonderful!

Jennifer F.-Frozen Fortress

Great STEM activities that you don't have to spend a fortune on to do.

Morgan C.-Frozen Fortress

A great activity for the week before Christmas break. It was messy fun for them and perfectly challenging.

Amanda B.-Frozen Fortress

These are fun and challenging! You obviously worked hard on this!

PorterTexasTeacher-Frozen Fortress

Thank you so much for such a well thought out resource. The instructions were easy to follow and I love that there were many different levels included to meet the needs of my students. I love this resource!

Hopeful Teaching-Frozen Fortress

My students really enjoyed the activity and I appreciated the well thought out worksheets to go with it. It helps encourage thought and discussion even with a "fun" activity. It still helps build analytic thought, group work, reflection, etc. I appreciate that there were different levels all in one purchase as this makes it easier to differentiate. The extension activity was great, I actually use it as the morning work before we started on the activity to get the kids in the mindset of "okay, we are still in school but it will be fun." I'm a teacher that isn't in to the whole movie on the day before break so activities like this are perfect! Whew...okay, all that to say: thank you for taking the time to create this and share it!

Merry Melon’s Market-Frozen Fortress