Let's heat up our lesson plans this winter season with some STEM activities and fun science experiments inspired by Christmas and the holidays! From engineering challenges to earth science, math, technology, and chemistry; there are so many exciting science resources with a holiday theme. Middle school is a transformative time for students to get interested in science and how it impacts the world around us. So, browse through our 35 simple science activities, and pick a few your students will tell their friends and family about over winter break.
1. Christmas Milk Magic!
This experiment doesn't have to be a seasonal science activity, but the food colors we chose put us in the Christmas spirit! Fill a container with milk and have your students drip some food coloring around in the milk. Using cotton swabs dipped in dish soap, touch the milk to see what magic happens!
Learn More: Fun Learning For Kids
2. Melting Snow Experiment
Here is a great experiment to try with your middle schoolers as a beginner lesson on making hypotheses and testing results using the scientific method. Find balls of snow or ice, pour different temperature water over the snow, and time to see which melts the fastest.
Learn More: Inspiration Laboratories
3. Candy Cane Break Down!
There are a variety of experiments that involve testing how different solutions affect materials. To get into the Christmas mindset, we are going to see which liquids can dissolve candy canes. Ask your students to pick which liquids to test and record the results.
Learn More: Lemon Lime Adventures
4. DIY Stained Glass Ornaments
I remember trying to create stained glass designs when I was a teenager. These gingerbread house ornaments are such a fun Christmas project to try with your students. Pipe cleaners can frame the house and a mini cookie cutter can outline your gingerbread man.
Learn More: The Educators Spin On It
5. Magnetic Christmas Tree Fun!
Explore the power of magnets with this fun challenge suitable for any grade level. Once you cut out a tree shape from cardboard and decorate it with ornaments made with paper clips, use a toy magnet to move the ornaments around the tree like magic!
Learn More: Science Sparks
6. Christmas Egg Drop Challenge
You may remember this fun activity from when you were in middle school. Students get into pairs or teams and attempt to build a structure to protect their egg when dropped from the top of a building. Provide Christmas decorations such as tinsel and ribbons for students to use when building their egg vehicles.
Learn More: Lemon Lime Adventures
7. Evergreen Science
Time for a little fresh air and earth science fun with this outdoor STEM activity! Go over the types of evergreen trees, their characteristics, and what climates they can be found in. Depending on where your school is, take your students outside to smell, touch, and collect samples from the trees we enjoy during the holidays.
Learn More: The Educators Spin On It
8. DIY Christmas Sensory Bottles
No matter what age your students are, sensory bottles have been shown to bring a lot of stress relief and can help kids and teenagers who have a hard time concentrating or processing their emotions in the classroom. Ask students to bring in their own clear bottles and provide a variety of small Christmas decorations for them to fill their bottles with.
Learn More: Stir The Wonder
9. Disappearing Sugar Stripes
What happens when you mix warm water with sugar? The sugar dissolves! This is a chemical reaction that can be demonstrated easily with candy canes. Give each student a candy cane and let them drop theirs in warm water and see how the red color begins to dissipate.
Learn More: Playdough To Plato
10. Christmas Tree Slime
What's the science behind the slime? There are tons of different recipes out there to try, but this one has a clear/green consistency that is made using glue, liquid starch, and water. Provide a bunch of Christmas craft materials for your students to add to their slime for a sensory experience.
Learn More: Little Bins For Little Hands
11. DIY Star Ornaments
Creativity is king with these adorable DIY Christmas ornaments perfect for any grade level to try! What you'll need to make this science craft are some cookie cutters, red and green yarn, glue, and pins. Help your students wind their yarn and stabilize their designs to dry before they bring them home to put on their trees!
Learn More: One Little Project
12. Cranberry Engineering
What can your students build using toothpicks and cranberries? Give them the supplies and make it a team challenge to see who can build the tallest structure within the time limit!
Learn More: Artful Parent
13. DIY Snow Crystals
Talk about simple! You can make these crazy cool crystal snowflakes by just boiling water and salt, then pouring the liquid into jars and placing your pipe cleaner flakes inside for a few days.
Learn More: Modern Homestead Mama
14. Storm in a Jar!
Here is a simple STEM lesson with mind-blowing visual results! What happens when you mix white paint, baby oil, and water in a clear jar? Nothing too exciting until you drop in some Alka-seltzer tablets and watch the snowstorm begin!
Learn More: Taming Little Monsters
15. Meaningful Science with Pinecones
Let's enter our middle school STEM lab and see how pinecones react depending on the humidity of the environment they are in. We can test this by placing them in clear jars with different substances such as air, and cold/warm water, and record the changes.
Learn More: Lemon Lime Adventures
16. Spinning Christmas Tree
Looking for some technology activities to get your middle schoolers' brains turning? This experiment needs a few engineering materials to make the motor for your trees, such as batteries, copper wire, and magnets. Follow the instructions in the link to teach your learners the power of science!
Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
17. Melting and Molding Gumdrops
This edible experiment is a combination of science and baking, and can be done in a classroom with a heat source or at home in the kitchen! Gumdrops are made of sticky sugar and other components that expand and combine when heated. Grab some Christmas cookie cutters and make fun and delicious sugary designs.
Learn More: Little Bins For Little Hands
18. A Bridge of Sugar!
Another gumdrop experiment with holiday science magic! Can you believe this bridge STEM challenge with gumdrops and toothpicks can hold some impressively heavy stuff? Give your students the materials and see which team can build the strongest bridge the fastest!
Learn More: Tiny Beans
19. DIY Candy Cane Bath Bombs
Let's get fizzzzzy with this candy science experiment that will leave your skin refreshed and your mind filled with new and exciting STEM knowledge. To make these bath bombs your students will need acid and a base to react creating bubbly and aromatic magic!
Learn More: Little Bins For Little Hands
20. Peppermint Oobleck Motor Skills
Oobleck is a combination of corn starch and water that creates a gooey mixture great for sensory play! For your older kids, make simple science a game by adding peppermint candies to the oobleck and see how many they can grab with tweezers in 30 seconds.
Learn More: Little Bins For Little Hands
21. DIY Bubble Wrap Jell-o!
Check out some fascinating candy science that your students can enjoy at the end of class. Bubble wrap can be used as a mold to make this Christmas candy for STEM learning. To make them you'll mix boiled water and cranberry or peppermint flavored gelatin, then use a syringe to fill in the bubbles!
Learn More: Instructables
22. Oil and Water Color Theory Science
It is well-known that water and oil don't mix very well, and this can make for some fun color experiments with a Christmas theme! Use red and green food coloring mixed with water and add it to clear glass with oil to see how the colors dance.
Learn More: Inspiration Laboratories
23. DIY Christmas Rock Candy Ornaments!
Our favorite science experiments are the ones we can eat after! To make the rock candy rings your students can help you boil water and sugar then let it cool into crystals. Some fun earth science concepts can be explored such as precipitation and evaporation!
Learn More: Science Sparks
24. Shadow Puppets and Light Science
How does light move and travel? What happens when there are objects in its path? Help your students make Christmas puppets from paper and see how they interact with various light sources.
Learn More: Science Sparks
25. Sleigh Race Science!
Explore how the size and weight of objects affect their speed with this cute holiday-themed science experiment using mini lego cars and paper sleigh tops. You can have your students design and build their own ramps to test out each car.
Learn More: Inspiration Laboratories
26. Mint Chocolate Kitchen Science!
Teenagers love it when an experiment has a sweet ending. This kitchen science experiment shows how materials can change states from solids to liquids and back. Help students melt chocolate, pick some fresh mint leaves, and dip them to make leaf-printed chocolate pieces for observation and snacking!
Learn More: Science Sparks
27. Gingerbread House Engineering
It's time for our favorite edible classroom challenge to do during the holiday season, gingerbread house building! Split your students into teams and give them all the tasty treats they'll need to build the strongest gingerbread house possible. Test at the end of class to see who's can withstand the most wind and weight!
Learn More: Science Sparks
28. DIY Reindeer Toothpaste
Now, this experiment sounds safe to eat, but beware, It's only for reindeer! The chemistry behind this bubbly, minty, mixture is the reaction happening between yeast, hydrogen peroxide, water, and oxygen.
Learn More: Playdough To Plato
29. Building Marshmallow Snowmen
What type of sugar can best hold together marshmallows? Ask your students to guess before beginning this building challenge. Provide a few different types of edible adhesives, and have your students pick the one they think holds the best. Once their snowmen are constructed, let them dry and test to see which sticks together the best!
Learn More: Science Sparks
30. Polar Bear: Blubber and Insulation
Are your middle schoolers curious as to how polar bears and other animals with blubber stay warm in such cold climates? Here is a simple experiment to show how insulation works! Use rubber gloves, lard/shortening, ice water, and a stopwatch to demonstrate.
Learn More: Science Sparks
31. Bendy Candy Canes
You can't get much easier than this seasonal, hands-on experiment, best done at home or in a classroom with an oven. To set up, heat the candy canes to a point where they get puffy, then let them cool a little before students use different instruments to pick them up and mold them.
Learn More: Artful Parent
32. Crystal Wreaths
These borax crystal ornaments are breathtaking, a scientific wonder, and easy enough to make in the classroom. Trim some pieces of a wreath, tie them in a circle, and set them in a bowl of borax dissolved in water for a few days and see the amazing results!
Learn More: Steam Powered Family
33. Flying Tinsel
A styrofoam cup, a tin pie pan, some wool, and some tinsel are what your students will need to make some science magic! This experiment shows how positive and negative charges work together to make tinsel react in sky-high ways.
Learn More: Exploratorium
34. Fake Snow Science
With so many recipes out there for DIY fake snow, which has the best results overall? This experiment has your students make 4 different snow recipes and put them through a series of tests to see which functions the best.
Learn More: Left Brain Craft Brain
35. Christmas Math STEM Challenges
Now, this website has a bunch of engaging and challenging math activities for middle school level students. A few you can choose from are 3D shape ornaments, congruent triangles, and equation printables.
Learn More: Math Giraffe
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