If you’ve been visiting my site for awhile, you know that I love STEM activities. I love the learning that happens during the challenges as well as how much kids enjoy working on each activity. If you’re looking for somewhere to start with introducing STEM to your classroom or home, try one of these holiday STEM challenges that are sure to spark an interest in STEM. From Groundhog Day to Christmas, lots of holidays are covered!

If you haven’t done a STEM activity before, the activities focus on science, technology, engineering and math. Most of the challenges shared below focus on engineering, but there are some ideas included at the end for how to integrate other subject areas. Children are given simple supplies, most of which you may already have on hand. The activities also include a free printable task card to make set up easy, and prep quick.

Start with this collection of holiday STEM challenges, but then add more building challenges and hands-on experiments and activities with this collection of 60 of the best STEM ideas. Make sure to also grab lots of free printable task cards from this popular collection of 33 free STEM task cards.

Since each of the activities below focus on a specific holiday, the ideas also make great themed STEM kits. Print the task card along with the materials needed to build in a bag and give it to children. This way they can build and create anywhere and at any time.

Groundhog Day STEM

The collection starts with a Groundhog Day STEM challenge. Print the free task card and groundhog critter. Use cotton balls and popsicle sticks to build a structure for your groundhog to live in. The challenge will come as children build and find that the materials need to be balanced and be placed carefully.

As with all STEM challenges, one of the great learning opportunities that come from these activities is although kids may have a plan, it will likely not work perfectly on the first try. The structures will fall many times as they build. That’s part of the challenge. STEM activities focus on the process. It’s not how fast kids complete the challenge, it’s what they try and improve on with each attempt.

Click the image for the full activity description.

Valentine’s Day STEM

When I do STEM challenges in my classroom, kids are always excited to do them. They love building and creating with their hands, especially when there is a purpose and goal. Bringing in an activity for a special holiday that kids are already excited for is even better! This Valentine’s Day STEM activity mixes some art by creating an adorable lovebug!

For more fun for your Valentine’s Day celebrations, check out this popular collection of Valentine’s Day STEM Activities.

St. Patrick’s Day STEM

How far can you make your leprechaun fly through the air? Create a catapult that will send a printable leprechaun flying this St. Patrick’s Day. If you do this challenge with several kids, make sure to grab a few containers for kids to aim for as they send the leprechaun flying. You can also add math to this activity by measuring the distance everyone’s character goes.

Also make sure to check out 27 St. Patrick’s Day STEM Activities.

Easter STEM Challenge

After the Easter egg hunt, hang onto your plastic eggs for this Easter STEM challenge. Keep the fun of Easter going all day by building a structure with the eggs and jumbo popsicle sticks. This is a great way to keep kids busy all day and they’ll love using their materials from the special day.

Once you’ve completed the STEM challenge, extend the fun this Easter with 22 of the best STEM activities for Easter.

Earth Day Holiday STEM

Although we celebrate Earth Day in April, learning about the earth is important every day and an important part of STEM. Challenge children to create a water filter and learn a bit about how important clean water is throughout our world. Children will build a filter, test it and then alter their filter in any way to make it better and then filter it again.

Celebrate Earth Day every day, by integrating more Earth Day STEM activities into your classroom or home.

Thanksgiving STEM

I initially created this STEM challenge to use at our house on Thanksgiving. I wanted a simple activity that kids could do before dinner or at the kids’ table after they had finished eating. My kids loved it so much that I started doing it with my own class before the holiday. Make sure to grab the free printable turkey to engage kids even more.

I love this building challenge, but there are a few other Thanksgiving STEM challenges that you could also add to your holiday celebrations, each with free printables. Check out the Top 3 Thanksgiving STEM Activities.

Halloween Holiday STEM Challenges

Halloween is a great time for STEM challenges! There is always a lot of excitement leading up to Halloween night. A hands-on challenge is a great way to keep kids focused and learning during this time. This collection of 3 Halloween STEM activities each use simple materials, but with a spooky, fun theme.

Kids are always really excited about Halloween and tend to have more energy this time of year. Make the most of the special day with a popular collection of 39 Halloween STEM Activities for Kids.

Mother’s Day STEM

Make something special for mom this holiday with the free printable Mother’s Day STEM card. This activity mixes some art into the project for this unique gift for mom. Children use materials to make beautiful flowers for a handmade gift that mom will love.

Father’s Day STEM Activity

Shortly after Mother’s Day, Dad will also need his own special card! Use craft materials, or things like nuts and bolts for this adorable card that features Dad. This can be challenging for younger kids so there are a few free templates for the cards available.

Christmas Holiday STEM Challenges

Fill the holiday season with STEM activities. This candy cane STEM is a bit different than the building challenges above, but it’s always one of my students favorites during the Christmas season. Use a few candy canes for this experiment that kids can actually taste!

Try a Christmas tree toss this holiday. Create a catapult with popsicle sticks, elastics and spoons. Kids love flinging their mini tree and testing their catapult. Build, test and improve over and over until your tree goes the furthest!

Grab the free printable reindeer character for this Christmas STEM. Create a shelter for your reindeer using only cotton balls and popsicle sticks. If you can give kids unlimited time it is incredible what they will create. Children will add different rooms and sections for their reindeer’s home.

You can fill each day leading up to Christmas with a different STEM activity with this collection of 25 Christmas STEM Activities that kids will love!

New Years STEM Challenge

The final holiday STEM challenge is one for New Years. Before the balls drops at midnight, challenge kids to create a catapult that will send the ball flying through the air. This makes a great activity for kids at a New Years party to keep kids busy.

13 Best Holiday STEM Challenges

Extension Ideas

Although each of the challenges are based around a specific theme, you can use the materials and basic ideas from each activity any time of year. If you like the idea, but it’s not the holiday, kids will still love building and creating.

If you are looking to add more STEM to your child’s learning use the activities above and add to them to extend the learning and skills. For the building challenges, add math by measuring the height and or width of the structures that children build. Try placing weights on top of any structure to test strength or measure the distance an object is thrown for a catapult.

If you are creating in a classroom, you can have children or groups talk about what they made and tell what they feel that they did well when building and then what they would improve.

There is lots of learning that will happen with these STEM activities, and they will add to any holiday!

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Print the Holiday STEM Challenges Resources Featured Above

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