Christmas STEM Activities for Preschool
The weather outside might be frightful, but indoor preschool stem activities are delightful. This is one of my favorite Christmas STEM activities for preschool.
Prepare to be amazed as your preschoolers transform into little engineers. The ideas they come up with might just astound you. So much learning takes place through simple play!
This activity is wonderful as a part of your holiday STEM science and math activities, but you can mix up the manipulatives and use it with almost any preschool theme. Hands-on stem activities like this one will keep your preschoolers engaged and learning, all year long!
Christmas STEM Activities
While maybe less common, one of my favorite ways to teach preschoolers is with a simple play invitation. I try to include one in all my preschool lesson plans.
An invitation to play is one of the truest forms of play-based learning.
An invitation to play may not have a specific set of objectives. At least, not necessarily a concrete, “students will be able to name all letters” kind of objective.
The objective of an invitation to play might sound more like this: “Students will be able to explore and manipulate the materials in various creative ways to dictate their own play”.
This objective is incredibly important in early childhood. It also lends itself well to STEM concepts like engineering.
This invitation to play will “magically” turn into a Christmas-themed STEM activity. This magic will literally unfold right before your eyes! Prepare to be amazed as your preschoolers all turn into little engineers.
Along with this Christmas STEM idea, it is helpful to have other hands-on learning activities ready to go during the busy holiday season. Add my Christmas Activity Pack to your holiday plans and keep those little elves busy and happy!
Why This is Considered a STEM Activity
STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering & Math”.
A broad range of activities fall under the umbrella of STEM.
This activity is part of the “E”, or Engineering side of stem.
Engineers investigate how and why things work. Preschoolers have a natural curiosity and love to ask questions and explore how things work.
This Christmas STEM activity invites children to question, explore, design, use trial and error, and more. Essentially, it invites preschoolers to be engineers!
Invitations to Play Lead to STEM Investigations
Many invitations to play, when designed with purpose and intention, will be thought-provoking and invoke a natural process that lends itself to a STEM activity.
The teaching involved in an invitation to play is led by the children. I cannot plan for it in advance. Children will explore concepts following their own natural scope and sequence. I can predict some things, but not all.
In this particular invitation to play, I observed preschoolers tipping over cups and watching buttons fall out of them, filling cups to the brim and listening to the sound as each one drops in, making patterns, making musical instruments, and so much more!
While this may just look like play, my preschoolers were thinking:
- How can I make this happen again?
- Will this happen every time?
- What if I try it with this instead?
- I wonder what happens if I use more?
All these thoughts that preschoolers naturally have, lend themselves to the first thing every scientist does- ask questions.
STEM Picture Books for Preschoolers (create reusable blocks)
- Hardcover Book
- Reynolds, Paul A. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Van Dusen, Chris (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 40 Pages – 08/13/2019 (Publication Date) – Rocky Pond Books (Publisher)
- Hardcover Book
- Yamada, Kobi (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- Used Book in Good Condition
- Alling, Niki (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
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Christmas STEM Challenge
In this Christmas invitation to play, preschoolers get the opportunity to put their lab coats on and work from the lens of a scientist. What they choose to investigate is completely up to them. So, pull up a chair and invite them to explore some Christmas science!
Materials
- Christmas holly buttons
- Christmas tree buttons
- mini red plastic cups
- alternatively, any Christmas manipulatives of your choice will work
The Set Up
Invitations to play should be arranged in an organized and inviting way. They should pique curiosity and beckon children to play but should be intentional in design and purpose.
For this Christmas-themed STEM activity, arrange the materials in an organized manner that works best with your space.
I arranged the buttons in a series of narrow rows and placed the cups on either end in a stack. However, you can organize the materials in bowls, compartmentalized trays, or whatever works best for you.
How to do the Christmas STEM Activity with Preschoolers
This may seem a bit obvious at this point, but the “how to” is as easy as inviting your preschoolers to play!
Some of the preschoolers might not know exactly what they are “supposed to do”. In that case, I ask, “What can you do with these materials?”
An invitation to play should allow children to freely explore, investigate, and question. They should be allowed to touch, feel and manipulate all the materials with their various senses.
I like to sit alongside them and observe and listen as they engage with the materials. And, before too long, the invitation to play organically turns into a stem activity.
This preschool STEM activity shows off how creative and innovative preschoolers are!
Christmas Stem Activities for Kindergarten
Stem activities are wonderful anytime of the year, but extra fun at Christmas! I have gathered some of my favorite fun Christmas stem activities for you to use with your kindergarteners and preschoolers during the holidays.
- Quick and Easy Christmas STEM Activity for Preschoolers
- 30 Christmas STEM Activities
- Christmas STEM Activities for Kindergarten and First Grade
- 16 Christmas STEM Activities
Cool STEM Projects
I have also gathered some fantastic STEM projects that can be used any time of the year. Check these out and let those little engineers design, question and create all year long. I assure you- your kids will love these!
- 15 Unbelievable Preschool STEAM Activities
- Building the Longest Wall in Around the World Theme
- Marshmallow and Toothpick Snowflake STEM Activity
- 15 Easy STEM Activities For Preschoolers
- Preschool STEM Activities
Add my Christmas Activity Pack to your holiday plans and keep those little hands busy and full of festive cheer!
Christmas Activities for Preschoolers
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I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
Thank you so much for explaining how to set out an invitation to play! How to make it simple but inviting. I have several kinds of small Christmas items I’ll be using to set up an invitation this week! Yay! I think the mini erasers that are so popular would also work well.
Invitations to play are one of my faves!
Wow….this is so lovely really. I’ll do these activities with my kid. it is so fun! These are great ideas for the Christmas time. Thanks for putting this collection together.