Top 5 Christmas STEM Activities
Post by Terese Wills
November 17, 2022
As the Thanksgiving leftovers slowly dwindle in our fridge, it is time to look forward to the Christmas season and help Santa get ready for his epic journey around the world. What better way to model the engineering design process than with activities that help Santa navigate the challenges of the Christmas holidays? From transporting toys with pneumatics or coding an elf, here are our favorite 5 Christmas STEM activities. Plus, check out the freebie at the end to celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa!
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Our first three stem challenges in our favorites list involve moving the present from one place to another. Whether it is by using simple machines, a pneumatic device, or a rover (vibrating motor), the students help the elves load Santa’s sleigh using the engineering design process.
Activity 1: Christmas Toy Factory
Christmas Eve is quickly approaching, and Santa needs the elves to help to load his sleigh. But those presents are heavy! Luckily, we can use the power of simple machines to help the elves transport the presents into Santa’s sleigh. In this activity, students use common materials like paper plates, tape, straw, string, small paper cups, craft sticks, pipe cleaners and cardboard tubes to build at least 2 simple machines to transport a ping pong ball (representing the toy) into a cup (representing Santa’s sleigh). Check out a video of this activity in action on our TikTok or Instagram or click here for the full lesson plan!
Science Connection: What are simple machines?
In design challenges, we want students to apply science to improve their design. Simple machines are all around us! Simple machines are the base of most inventions and allow us to do work easier, something the elves will definitely appreciate after a long year of making toys. The six simple machines include:
a screw
inclined plane
lever
pulley
axle and wheel
The students can identify simple machines in their school and playground before they use simple machines to complete the challenge.
Career Connection: Toy Designer
Along with understanding simple machines, we love to connect this challenge to the real-world job of toy designer! While a toy designer isn’t a degree you will find in any university in the United States, it is very much an in-demand job. Using creativity, ingenuity, and artistic license, toy designers are tasked with developing interesting toys for kids and for the kid at heart. Check out the video below about how to become a toy designer!
Ready to try this with your students? Click below for the full lesson plan, teacher slides, and editable student handouts.
Activity 2: Pneumatic Toy Lift
Another activity that involves helping the elves load Santa’s sleigh, is the pneumatic toy lift. The elves have wrapped the presents but they are so heavy. They need to harness the power of compressed air! They will most definitely be appreciative if they could use a pneumatic lift to get those heavy presents into Santa’s sleigh so he can start his journey, delivering presents to the boys and girls. Could the pneumatic lift raise the present higher than two inches above the ground? Using tubing, two syringes, and a syringe adapter, students will harness the pressure of air to lift their load. You can find the lesson plans for this activity here.
Science Connection: What is a pneumatic system?
A pneumatic system works with an input, compressed or pressurized air and then an output. The input syringe is opened and filled with air. As the syringe stopper is pushed, the air pressure moves around the tube to the output syringe. As the air pressure moves, it lifts the output syringe stopper up which, in turn, lifts the weight. Pneumatic systems are used in manufacturing plants as well as on the International Space Station.
Career Connection: Behind the Scenes at a Toy Factory
A toy designer is a big part of the toy industry, but it isn’t the only job available. Check out the 5 Top Stem Industry Toy Careers. A peek inside the Hasbro toy factory may give insight into how the elves manage at the North Pole. Here are some behind the scenes at Hasbro:
To complete the pneumatic toy lift activity with your students, click below for the lesson plans, teacher slides and more!
Activity 3: Santa’s Transportation Device
The last of the three challenges that involve loading Santa’s sleigh involves a vibrating motor like our rover lesson. Santa needs your help! The elves built a really heavy present that they are unable to move! Your mission is to design a way to transport the heavy present from Santa’s Workshop to his sleigh. Using the engineering design process to design and build a device to transport the present. Students will use a vibrating motor and a cell battery to move the present and help the elves. If this sounds like something your students would enjoy, click here!
Science Connection: What are circuits?
A circuit is a path through which electricity can flow. This path includes a power source, such as a cell battery, and material for the electricity to travel through, called conductors. Conductors are used to connect the power source to the vibrating motor that will use the electricity. A closed circuit will allow the electricity to flow continuously to power the vibrating motor. An open circuit will stop the flow of electricity causing the motor to stop.
Career Connection: Electrical Engineers
Electrical engineers enjoy designing and working with circuits. They are tasked with everything from lighting large stadiums where we watch our favorite teams play to designing navigational systems for aircraft and ships. Check out this video:
Ready to challenge your students with Santa’s transportation device? Click below for the lesson plans, material list, and teacher slides.
After helping the elves move the toys to Santa’s sleigh, it is time for the elves to decorate for their own Christmas celebration. They couldn’t possibly run into any challenges with that, right? Or could they?
Activity 4: Elf Zipline
One of Santa’s elves was busy decorating the classroom and accidentally became stranded on a shelf! Your mission is to design and build a vehicle to carry our elf down a zipline to safety! To save the elf, click here and get the details on how to run this fun activity in your classroom!
Science Connection: What are the forces in play on a zipline?
The forces working on us are constant and keep us balanced. Just like the elf needing to keep his balance in the cup on the zipline, we have our own center of gravity. The elf has a center of gravity where all parts of the elf are in balance. The vehicle will have a force pulling up on the elf and gravity will pull the elf down. To make the elf move along the zipline, the vehicle will have to remain balanced. Another force to contend with is friction. Friction will work against gravity and become another variable that needs to be overcome in the quest for a smooth trip down the zipline.
To access all the information to save Santa’s elf, click below!
Activity 5: Elf Coding
Christmas is almost here, and Santa’s elves are running out of time to build all the toys! To help them finish, Santa has given them a robotic helper! Using verbal or written commands, the elves need to program the robot to build their toy. Wondering how to go about teaching this in your class? Lesson plans and teacher slides for elf coding can be found here.
Technology Connection: The Benefits of Teaching Code
Everywhere you look, nowadays, things are built with code. The game you play on the Switch, the website you use to buy Christmas presents, the app you use to keep track of your holiday events - all programmed with code! When we introduce students to coding challenges, both unplugged and plugged, we teach them how to problem solve, think critically and persevere through challenges. Coding skills will definitely be used in their future but more importantly, the skills they will learn through coding will allow them to adapt to new technology when they are in the workplace.
Career Connection: Robotics Engineer
If the students enjoy the coding unplugged stem challenge, they may want to pursue a career in robotics engineering. Robotic engineers work everywhere from manufacturing plants to NASA. Check out this video!
Christmas is a magical time of the year to be able to infuse some clever theming into your stem challenges. You can use one or more of our favorite stem activities by clicking here and getting the full Christmas bundle at 20% off! The students will enjoy helping Santa complete whatever challenges he faces as he travels the globe, wishing a Merry Christmas to all!
Plus, download our FREE winter holiday paper circuit templates to celebrate all the wonderful winter holidays including Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Sign-up below to access in our FREE STEM Explorer Library!
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