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in Christmas STEM Activities· STEM Activities

DIY Kids Christmas Hat Engineering Challenge

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Simple engineering projects like the DIY kids Christmas hat engineering challenge and Christmas STEM activities are the perfect way to introduce engineering concepts to young kids.

Kids will especially enjoy designing a new hat for Santa! Now that Christmas is just around the corner, we’re diving full into the holiday season.

Simple engineering projects are the perfect way to introduce engineering concepts to young kids. Kids will especially enjoy designing a new hat for Santa!

My kids absolutely loved this Christmas hat engineering challenge and we spent a happy afternoon together creating Santa’s new hat.

Who knows, maybe we’ll see the real big guy wear this design this year! This was a super fun STEM activity and one of the many engineering activities for kids we will repeat.

Related: STEM Activities to Try Today!

christmas stem challenge cards

How to do the Construct Kid’s Christmas Hat Engineering Challenge

This simple kids Christmas hat engineering project requires just a few supplies. Gather the materials ahead of time and then let the kids come up with their own designs!

Simple engineering projects are the perfect way to introduce engineering concepts to young kids. Kids will especially enjoy designing a new hat for Santa!
  • Red, white, and green cardstock paper
  • Glitter
  • Ribbon
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Jingle bells
  • Tissue paper (ours had glitter)
  • Tape
Simple engineering projects are the perfect way to introduce engineering concepts to young kids. Kids will especially enjoy designing a new hat for Santa!

An engineering project requires four steps:

  • Design
  • Prototype
  • Testing
  • Modification

We implemented all of these steps in our hat-building engineering challenge.

Simple engineering projects are the perfect way to introduce engineering concepts to young kids. Kids will especially enjoy designing a new hat for Santa!

Originally, my kids came up with a twist on the classic Santa hat that looked more like a wizard’s hat than anything else.

However, they soon realized during the test phase that the hat couldn’t stay on their heads. So, they came up with a second design, which was a classic top hat.

The kids can either draw out their proposed designs or wing it.

Next, comes hat building. Monkey and Bo worked together to build a working model of a top hat using red cardstock paper and tape. (I helped with any tricky parts).

They learned that to make a good hat design, you have to measure carefully or things won’t fit properly.

The girls decorated their hat with tissue paper, glitter, and jingle bells. The goal is to let the kids work on their own as much as possible not only in the design phase, but throughout the entire design, decorating, and testing phases.

During the testing phase, the girls realized that their prototype was a bit too small for Monkey, but it fit Bo all right.

simple-engineering-projects-6

The girls decided that if they were to make their hat again, they would need to measure a bit more carefully to ensure it would fit onto a person’s head properly or to add elastic so the hat could be secured to a head like a party hat.

All in all, the girls learned a lot about the design process, which makes this a successful engineering project. The hat now has a place of honor in my office until the Christmas season is over.

christmas stem challenge cards

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 3rd Grade

Christmas STEM Activities for 4th Grade

Christmas STEM Activities for 5th Grade

Christmas STEM Activities for Middle School

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Filed Under: Christmas STEM Activities, STEM Activities

About Brenda Priddy

Brenda grew up thinking she hated science.

But when her 4-year- old daughter was more interested in reading science facts than fairy tales, Brenda realized she had to learn more about science to keep up with her daughter.

Through simple at-home science experiments, Brenda developed a passion for science and now acts as an advocate for STEM education for kids at her website STEAMsational.com.

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What is STEAM?

STEAM activities for kids promote the idea that science, technology, engineering, art, and math can all work together to help kids become critical thinkers, problem solvers, and innovators!

Join us on our journey to discover just how much fun science experiments can be.

What we do… 

STEAMsational offers STEM and science lesson plans and teaching resources to provide a firm STEM foundation for children in the classroom or home.

All you need to do is find your supplies, gather your scientists, and let the innovation unfold.

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