Christmas will be here before you know it, and if you’re looking for a fun and festive way to countdown this holiday season, these Christmas tree STEM activities are perfect! You will find a new Christmas tree themed activity that will spark imagination and get your kids learning during the holidays. From Christmas lights to fizzy trees, there is an activity that every student will love. These Christmas STEM activities work well for kids of all ages, so everyone can get in on the fun.
Here are the best Christmas tree STEM activities to do during the school days leading up to the holidays.
Super Fun Christmas Tree STEM Activities for Kids!
There is no stopping STEM learning during the Christmas season. Try these fun STEM activities with Christmas trees to make learning and exploring STEM fun during the holiday season!
You’ll find a variety of fun Christmas tree STEM lesson plans and Christmas tree STEM challenges below along with some resources that you can use alongside your Christmas tree activities like the Christmas tree engineering challenge below!
Hands-On STEM Resources about Trees
Here are some hands-on STEM resources about trees that can be used alongside this Christmas tree STEM activity.
Christmas STEM Challenge Cards
If you want even more Christmas STEAM activities, try our FREE Christmas STEM challenge cards with 8 fun Christmas STEM activities for kids that are fun printable Christmas STEM challenges that elementary and middle school students will love!
What is Christmas STEM?
Christmas STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) refers to activities, projects, or educational initiatives that incorporate the principles and concepts of STEM disciplines into holiday-themed learning experiences, particularly related to Christmas. It’s a way to engage students in hands-on, inquiry-based learning while incorporating the festive spirit of the holiday season.
Christmas STEM activities often involve topics like:
- Exploring the science behind snowflakes, Christmas lights, or the properties of materials used in holiday decorations.
- Using technology to design digital holiday cards, program festive light displays, or create holiday-themed coding projects.
- Building and designing Christmas-themed structures or devices, such as gingerbread house engineering challenges or constructing reindeer sleighs.
- Incorporating math into activities like calculating the number of ornaments on a tree, measuring ingredients for holiday recipes, or solving holiday-themed math puzzles.
Some examples of Christmas STEM projects include creating a gingerbread house with structural integrity in mind (engineering), programming holiday light displays using microcontrollers (technology), studying the science of convection currents by making hot cocoa (science), and calculating budgets for gift shopping (mathematics).
But all our Christmas tree STEM activities in this list are focused on STEM activities you can do with evergreen trees!
Science Facts about Christmas Trees
Here are some fun and interesting science facts about Christmas trees.
Christmas trees are typically evergreen trees, which means they retain their leaves (needles) throughout the year. This adaptation helps them continue photosynthesis during the winter.
Different species of evergreen trees are used as Christmas trees, including balsam fir, Douglas fir, spruce, and pine. Each species has unique characteristics.
Evergreen trees have different types of needles, including flat needles (like those of firs and spruces) and cylindrical needles (like those of pines). These needle variations are linked to the tree’s adaptation to its environment.
Christmas trees retain chlorophyll in their needles year-round, allowing them to continue photosynthesis during the winter months when deciduous trees lose their leaves.
Evergreen trees have reduced transpiration (water loss) compared to deciduous trees because they have fewer leaf surfaces and a waxy coating on their needles. This helps them conserve water in cold climates.
Some Christmas tree species, like pines, produce resin. Resin has antimicrobial properties and helps protect the tree from pests and pathogens.
Christmas trees play a role in carbon sequestration by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and storing it in their wood. This helps mitigate climate change.
As Christmas tree needles decompose, they release nutrients back into the soil, benefiting the ecosystem and contributing to soil health.
Many Christmas trees are grown on tree farms, where they are carefully cultivated. This process involves soil testing, fertilization, and pest management practices, demonstrating the application of agricultural and environmental science.
11+ Christmas Tree STEM Activities for the Classroom
There are a lot of ways to learn through STEM methods with Christmas trees. These Christmas tree STEM activities are a fun way to learn about evergreen trees and as the festive backdrop for other STEM learning topics.
Browse this list of all of our Christmas tree STEM activities that have been featured on STEAMsational! You’ll find a Christmas tree STEM challenge covering all ranges of STEM topics, including science, technology, engineering, and math!
Books about Christmas Trees
These science books about evergreen trees will be a good addition to any Christmas tree STEM project!
Kids can make their own DIY Christmas tree advent calendar to use in the classroom or at home using this tutorial.
Preschoolers will love to build a Christmas tree following along with this tutorial for how to make a play doh Christmas tree.
Check out this 3D Paper Christmas tree engineering challenge and learn how to build a 3D christmas tree from triangles (template included).
You’ll find a full STEAM lesson about Christmas trees in this yarn-wrapped Christmas tree lesson plan.
Middle school and high school STEM enthusiasts will love the Christmas light STEM project where they are actually able to program Christmas lights to dance to music or anything else they want.
For an easier project, try the Christmas color by number tree activity with dot markers.
In this list of holiday door decorations for school, there are several fun Christmas tree designs that you can make with your students.
And there are more fun tree designs in this list of December door decorations for preschool.
Young kids will love making a Christmas pattern block sensory bag where they can use the pattern blocks to create a Christmas tree inside a squishy bag.
Try this crystal Christmas tree activity and watch some holiday trees grow right before your eyes in the classroom!
Challenge preschoolers in making a holder for an ornament that isn’t a tree in this Christmas project for preschool.
Christmas Tree STEM Ornaments
Here are some fun Christmas tree ornaments that are made with STEM themes and processes!
If your students like slime, they will like making this DIY slime ornament that features a snowman holding slime!
Students can make creative and one-of-a-kind ornaments mixing science and art when they make these Christmas STEM fizzing ornaments.
Learn about kitchen science and baking when making a gingerbread ornaments recipe.
Teach students all about DNA and how it works when you make these DNA science themed ornaments!
Older kids will love making this DIY version of the Taylor–Couette laminar flow demonstration with this holiday twist on the laminar flow project.
More Fun Christmas STEM Activities to Try!
If you like our Christmas tree STEM activities, then you’ll want to explore some of these fun Christmas tree STEM activities from STEAMsational and other STEM sites across the Internet!
Christmas STEM Challenge Cards
If you want even more Christmas STEAM activities, try our FREE Christmas STEM challenge cards with 8 fun Christmas STEM activities for kids that are fun printable Christmas STEM challenges that elementary and middle school students will love!
Fun and Festive Christmas Tree STEM Activities and More!
Here are even more festive Christmas tree STEM activities plus other fun holiday STEM activities that kids of all ages will enjoy.
Learn about symmetry and other math principles while making this fun DIY wrapping paper!
Bubble lights are super cool. Here is how to make your own DIY bubble lights with science.
What is better than regular slime? Light up slime!
In this fun math STEM activity, kids can calculate how many kids Santa can visit in one night.
Learn how to make your own Christmas snow globe.
Use jungle bells as building tools in this fun preschool engineering challenge for Christmas.
Kids can use scrap parts to create a scrap holiday tree.
Learn how to make a magnetic Christmas tree.
These Crystal Christmas trees make fun tree ornaments!
Teacher Christmas Tree Shirts
Here are some adorable Christmas tree shirts for teachers!
Chemist Tree Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt
Evergreen Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt
Math Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt
Books Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt
Pencil Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt
Forest Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt
Music Box Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt
Children Listen Christmas Tree Teacher Shirt