Christmas science activities are one of my favorite ways to spend the week before winter break. When I first started teaching, eons ago, we all planned holiday activities just for the sake of the holiday itself. Now, I make sure standards are at the heart of my teaching so there’s added purpose to our play.
MAKE YOUR OWN SNOW
Making snow from a baby diaper is one of my students’ favorite Christmas science activities. I mean, what’s not to love? Diapers are a close cousin to underpants, which are always a trigger for big laughs.
I’ve noticed over the years that kids love to deconstruct objects, and this lesson delivers on that urge. With a pair of scissors and a tiny Huggie, I can set the stage for some pretty cool science.
The contents of a baby diaper include a lot of cotton and this “stuff” … some gritty particles that feel a lot like sand. It’s actually a polymer designed to absorb liquid and keep a baby’s bottom dry. Whether or not you decide to use the word polymer with your students is up to you, but what happens next really gets their attention.
Ok, so it’s not real snow, but it sure looks a lot like snow and it’s cool to the touch. When a little water is added to the dry polymer, it absorbs the moisture, increases in size, and transforms texturally.
And the kids LOVE to play with it! This science lesson gives me the opportunity to teach and review:
- forming a hypothesis
- following a process
- describing the physical properties of matter
- measuring liquids
- understanding absorption
- observing the changing states of matter
SANTA’S MILK AND COOKIES
Another one of our favorite Christmas science activities is discovering which of Santa’s cookies will float the longest in milk. The kids’ predictions are all over the place on this one. Some think the lightest cookie will float the longest. Some think milk will melt chocolate, so they won’t pick the marshmallow cookie. And others think the sugar cookie will “win” because it’s the sweetest.
I won’t ruin the surprise, but one of these cookies will float FOREVER … like days. And one of these will sink pretty quickly, always shocking the kids who chose it. I’ve included these three cookies on the student recording sheet, but I recently added a blank version so you can pick three different cookies if you’d like.
- marshmallow pinwheels
- gingerbread cookie
- sugar cookie
Also, if you’re looking for a children’s book that goes perfectly with this cookie lab, check out ARE YOU GRUMPY, SANTA? by Gregg and Even Spiridellis. In this cute story, Santa is having a pretty rough time, but cookies save the day!
MORE CHRISTMAS SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
This SANTA SCIENCE teaching resource includes five science labs altogether, the two featured above and:
- WHAT IS STUCK IN THE CHIMNEY?
- STOCKING STUFFERS
- BRAVING BLIZZARDS!
The first two give kids a chance to use their senses (smell and touch) to identify mystery items in Santa’s chimneys and stockings. The final lab is an engineering challenge where teams work together to build a structure that will withstand a North Pole blizzard (or your hair dryer).😉
Student recording sheets are provided for each investigation so children can take notes and process their thinking.
RELATED BLOG POSTS
If your children enjoy themed science labs, you may be interested in these related blog posts featuring similar activities for upcoming holidays.
Happy teaching!
