Do you participate in the Elf on the Shelf tradition? Take the Elf antics up a notch by adding some STEM flair. We have compiled a list of our favorite ways to both entertain and educate using Santa’s little helper.

Last year, I started a new Space Club program at four middle schools. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I searched the web for ideas and curriculum to implement. I soon became excited to find great resources like NASA and TeachEngineering, but I was also overwhelmed as a simple Google search for "Space STEM activities" gives you a mere 89 million hits. Wading through a lot of junk eventually brought some gems that I could implement, and I leave it to another post to rant about the lack of quality in many activities that claim to be "STEM."