Use these Christmas STEM activities for 3rd grade in the classroom this December or at home during the holiday break!
The holidays are the perfect time to bring STEM and science learning into the classroom or your own home during the break. Read on to find some of our very favorite holiday STEM activities for third grade!
There is no end to learning and fun that students can have in the classroom with these fun holiday STEM activities.
If you like these holiday STEAM activities, you’ll also want to check out all our Christmas STEM activities, Christmas science experiments, and Christmas Chemistry experiments!
We even have a list of Christmas science you can do in jars!
Christmas STEM Activities for 3rd Grade
We’ll get to the Christmas STEM activities for 3rd grade in a bit, but first, read about why it’s important to do STEM activities in 3rd grade, and make sure you have all the supplies you need for your STEM projects!
The Benefits of Christmas Experiments in 3rd Grade
STEM activities in general are tons of fun for third graders, and third grade is a wonderful time to connect some head knowledge with the experiments that you do.
Adding the fun of Christmas can help make it fun for kids who may think they don’t like science. Kids in third grade can be pretty picky, so adding in a fun theme like Christmas will make science fun for everyone!
And a love of science in the early years will make it much more likely that kids will eventually join a STEM career as adults.
The benefits of a firm understanding of science from the early years cannot be overstated!
Supplies for 3rd Grade Christmas STEM Challenges
Shop the list below to make sure you have everything you need for your 3rd grade holiday STEM activities!
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The Mason Jar Scientist: 30 Jarring STEAM-Based ProjectsBall Regular Mouth Mason Jars with Lids and Bands, 16-Ounces (4-Pack)
Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil, 32 Ounce
Barbasol Soothing Aloe Thick & Rich Shaving Cream 10 Oz (2 Pack)
Alka-Seltzer PFY BXAS50 80659297 Antacid and Pain Relief Medicine, Two-Pack (Pack of 50)
Kadaon 10X Handheld Magnifier Antique Mahogany Handle Magnifier Reading Magnifying Glass for Reading Book, Inspection, Coins, Insects, Rocks, Map, Crossword Puzzle
BORAX 20 Mule Team Laundry Booster, Powder, 4 Pounds
Fine Ground Celtic Sea Salt – (1) 16 Ounce Resealable Bag of Nutritious, Classic Sea Salt, Great for Cooking, Baking, Pickling, Finishing and More, Pantry-Friendly, Gluten-Free
McCormick Assorted Food Color, 1 Fl Oz (Pack of 1)
Food Coloring – 12 Color Vibrant Cake Food Coloring Set for Baking, Decorating, Fondant and Cooking – Upgraded Liquid Concentrated Icing Food Color Dye for Slime Making, DIY Crafts – .25 fl. oz. Each
30% Pure Vinegar – Home&Garden (1 Gallon)
Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda, 5 lb
Argo Corn Starch 16 oz. Box (Pack of 4)
Christmas STEM Activities for Third Grade
Click on your favorite STEM activity below to get the full directions for that activity.
Most of these activities have 2 or more STEM elements, but I’ve arranged them by the main topic to make it easier for you to go through the list.
Christmas Science Activities for 3rd Grade
These 3rd grade STEM activities have a science twist!
Try this fun How the Grinch Stole Christmas Slime and learn about polymer chains!
Bake your own gingerbread ornaments and learn about food preservation.
Learn about solutions and dissolving when you disssolve candy canes.
Make Ice Cream in a Bag and learn how temperature can change something’s form.
3rd Grade Christmas Technology Activities
These 3rd grade STEM activities have a technology twist!
Try this Santa Slime Recipe and learn about how chemical reactions can change something’s form.
Learn the basics of electricity when you do the Static Electricity Experiment with a Balloon.
Binary Christmas ornaments teach the basics of coding to kids.
This is a fun holiday twist on the Laminar Science Experiment.
Third Grade Christmas Engineering Activities
These 3rd grade STEM activities have an engineering twist!
Build a new ride for Santa in the Santa’s Sleigh STEM Challenge.
Design a new outfit for Santa using cardboard tubes!
Christmas hat engineering challenge
Design Your Own Wrapping Paper and learn about paper production.
Christmas Math Activities for 3rd Grade
These are fun math activities that 3rd graders will love!
Third graders will love figuring how How Many Kids Can Santa Visit.
These Christmas math games are perfect for down time in the classroom.
There are no fractions like Christmas fractions!
Kids will like doing these Holiday math task cards when bored.
Why not make multiplication fun like this Christmas multiplication set?
Christmas STEM Activities by Grade
Christmas STEM Activities for Preschool
Christmas STEM Activities for Kindergarten
Christmas STEM Activities for 1st Grade
Christmas STEM Activities for 2nd Grade
Christmas STEM Activities for 4th Grade