Top 3 Thanksgiving STEM Activities (Free Printables)

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Can you make a Thanksgiving table from one sheet of paper? How about a turkey home from wooden blocks or a catapult for a turkey toss? Try all of these STEM challenges as you prepare for the holiday. Kids will love these hands-on activities as they get excited for Thanksgiving. I’ve complied my favorite top 3 Thanksgiving STEM Activities.

Each of these STEM activities include free printables to make set up quick and easy. The challenges only require simple materials such as wooden blocks, popsicle sticks and a sheet of paper. They are simple challenges, but perfect for kids of all ages.

If you’re an educator looking for activities to do in your classroom as the excitement of Thanksgiving grows, these challenges are perfect for keeping kids engaged and learning.

The activities below are from Hands-On Teaching Ideas and Play Learn Inspire. The printables are available on each of the sites. Each activity includes a link to the original challenge where you will find a full activity description.

thanksgiving STEM activities shows a pinterest pin.

Thanksgiving STEM Activities

After the very first STEM challenge I did in my classroom, I knew that STEM activities were going to be a regular part of my teaching. My students were incredibly engaged and excited to do the challenge.

I love the fact that with STEM activities, there is no one right answer. Children have the freedom to create something very different from their peers, and all of the designs be correct and equally wonderful.

Often a design that at first seems unusual or very different from a solution that crossed my mind, is often a design that I am amazed with. These designs also remind me that these children will be our future engineers and architects.

STEM challenges mix science, technology, engineering and math. The more of these subject areas combined in an activity, the better.

Cozy Coop Turkey Home

The first Thanksgiving STEM activity is the challenge to build a home for a turkey. Children are provided with wooden blocks, popsicle sticks, a turkey cut out and an activity card.

thanksgiving STEM activitie shows blocks and sticks and an activity card.

The challenge is to create a home for the turkey using only the supplies. Children can create anything their imagination comes up with. The turkey has to be able to fit inside.

thanksgiving STEM activities shows a tower made from popsicle sticks and small cubes.

You can provide wooden building blocks of any shape and size. With some groups I gave them small colored cubes, other groups had rectangular blocks. You can also provide both, and let kids choose.

thanksgiving STEM activitie shows a turkey image in a house made from wooden blocks.

Avoid giving children restrictions when building or too many ideas and suggestions. The goal of STEM challenges is not to create a perfect product. Much of a STEM activity is the process. Children should create and reflect on their initial design and find ways to improve on it.

*Click here for the direct link to this full activity: Thanksgiving STEM Challenge – Cozy Coop

Turkey Toss STEM Activity

Thanksgiving STEM Activities – Challenge #2

The next Thanksgiving STEM activity includes a DIY catapult and a turkey toss! Can you create a catapult that can send a turkey flying through the air?

turkey toss game shows an activity card, popsicle sticks and spoons.

Children are given a few materials, a plastic spoon, large popsicle sticks and elastics, and they must design and build a catapult. There is a free image of a turkey to attach to a coin or other item, to toss across the room!

fall activity for kids shows a diy catapult.

Young children may have difficulty creating their catapult, so you can offer a bit of support or show a picture of the catapult. Hopefully by seeing one made, children can recreate it to work for them. Children are encourage to test out their catapult and then alter their design as needed.

A favorite extension for this STEM activity is to place buckets or containers on the carpet where children are testing their catapult. Each bucket is given a different number. This number is the points for each turkey that lands in it. It becomes a great competition and children are engaged to keep improving their catapult so that it works the best!

free printables shows an activity card and coin images in color and black and white.

Click here for the direct link to this full activity: Thanksgiving STEM Challenge Turkey Toss

Turkey Table STEM Challenge #3

The final STEM activity, and my kids favorite is the Thanksgiving Table STEM.

With only one sheet of paper children are challenged to create a table that is strong, and stable enough to hold the Thanksgiving food.

STEM for kids shows materials needed for a STEM challenge.

There are nine (free) food images of common Thanksgiving dishes. Each one needs to be set, and remain on the (paper) table. If it slides off, or the table slants, the STEM challenge is not complete.

thanksgiving STEM activities shows a little table made from a sheet of paper and food images on the table.

You can choose if you want to provide kids with tape and scissors, but it can also be done without.

This STEM challenge is great for a kids table activity on Thanksgiving. Children can design, build and test their design with little mess and in a small space. Kids will also love testing their design.

free printbales shows two pages of free downloads. An activity card and food images.

Using coins to attach to the food dishes provides a good weight, but if you want to challenge children more, you can use something else with more weight.

thanksgiving STEM activities shows a turkey table with food images and an activity card.

Click here for the direct link to this full activity: Thanksgiving STEM Challenge Turkey Table

Thanksgiving STEM Activities – Alternate Ideas

If you have older children doing the STEM challenges, or children that are ready for more of a challenge, there are a few simple changes you can make to increase the difficulty.

One simple change is to add a time restriction. Give children the challenge and see what they can do in 20 minutes, versus an hour. If you do a lot of STEM challenges, this can be a fun restriction; however, I wouldn’t suggest it with kids new to STEM activities. I find the more time I give students the more incredible and detailed their solutions are. However, setting a time on occasion can be a good alternative, especially if your time for the activity is limited.

Another restriction is to limit the number of materials they are allowed to build with. For example, for the first STEM activity, the turkey home, give children all of the materials they are allowed to build with at the beginning. Each child may receive 30 wooden blocks and 15 popsicle sticks. This is all they have to build and create with so they have to use each piece wisely.

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All of the printables featured above are available with the activity description. The printables for the first activity, the cozy coop turkey home can be accessed below.

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