If you love winter and can’t possibly go another minute without adding a seasonal element to your STEM activities for kids, then try these winter STEM activities for kids that will delight kids of all ages!
There is so much fun science that emerges during the winter. Snow, ice, weather, temperature, insulation, animal changes, and a whole lot more all happen during winter.
Winter is one of the best times to learn using STEM themes, and kids will have a blast learning and playing outdoors or inside when it’s cold out with these winter STEM challenges for elementary- you don’t need snow or ice to learn about winter!
Use these winter STEM activities for kids to make learning fun in your classroom or your own home! Kids will have a blast and learn something, too!
But Wait, What are Winter STEM Activities for Kids?
STEM is not so much a topical study as it is an approach to teaching and learning the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
STEM activities use all of these subjects together to solve real-world problems.
A STEM activity uses elements of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math to solve problems.
All STEM activities are inquiry-based, which means they are designed to answer a question (often a question the child creates herself).
STEM activities encourage children to see subjects like math and science in a new light, and how to use those subjects to solve their day to day problems and the problems that they might face as adults.
All STEM activities should contain elements of at least two disciplines in STEM, and all of them when possible!
As critical thinking and creative thinking become more and more important, STEM activities provide a safe and fun way for children to explore the concepts of science, math, engineering, and technology in a kid-friendly and fun way.
Even if a child never goes into a STEM field as an adult, engaging in STEM activities will encourage problem solving, logical thinking, and creativity in any industry.
At the pre-elementary and elementary level, STEM is about exploring STEM subjects in a fun and hands-on way.
Winter STEM activities for kids are simply STEM activities where the things taught have to do with winter or the winter season.
This could be anything from using winter terms in math problems to figuring out how much water is in snow.
Learn about snow, ice, heat, weather patterns, storms, and all sorts of fun winter-themed elements when you do these fun winter STEM challenges!
Winter STEM Topics for Kids
There are so many different winter STEM activities for kids to try. Kids can learn a variety of STEM themes during the winter such as:
Science: Explore weather patterns, temperature, heating, snow science, and more!
Technology: Learning how to predict weather, learning what tools are used to predict snow, learning what tools are used to predict upcoming seasonal patterns.
Engineering: How to protect plants from weather, how snow and ice affect roads and soil, what kind of insulation is required in the winter.
Math: Measuring snowfall, predicting weather patterns, calculating storm strength, measuring how much water is in snow.
Many schools require some form of STEM education in the classroom. And when it’s cold out, why not use what’s all around us to teach science, technology, engineering, and math!
Of course, you don’t have to use winter themes in your STEM lessons, but there is so much natural science and STEM that happens during the winter, it doesn’t make sense not to take advantage of a child’s curiosity and the biggest changes in nature all year!
But don’t worry if you’re not a teacher, you really don’t have to be a teacher to do winter STEM activities for kids. You can do them at home, too!
Not only do winter-themed STEM activities help children learn how to solve problems on their own, but it also allows hands-on kiddos to learn in a way that makes sense to them.
Children who need to touch and feel to learn effectively will thrive in a STEM-focused classroom or home.
The Mason Jar Scientist: 30 Jarring STEAM-Based Projects
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Winter STEM Challenge Cards for Elementary
These fun winter STEM activities will make any learning adventure a lot more fun. Kids will have a blast learning with these hands-on STEM tools.
Add in fun STEM elements alongside every learning activity you do this spring! You’ll be ready for the best year of learning yet!
Grab the winter STEM challenge cards linked above for even more winter STEM fun!
Winter STEM Activities for Kids Supply List
Keep these supplies and winter science books on hand when doing your winter STEM activities for kids.
You don’t need all of these supplies, but you’ll find they come in handy when doing your winter STEM activities at home or in the classroom.
Winter STEM Books for Kids
These winter STEM books teach kids about science, technology, engineering, and math during the winter!
STEM Through the Months – Winter Holidays (Volume 4)STEM Through The Months – Winter Edition: for Budding Engineers, Mathematicians, Makers and PoetsThe Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s WonderAnimals in Winter (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science)The Mason Jar Scientist: 30 Jarring STEAM-Based ProjectsBe Amazing! Toys Frozen Science KitFlakes and Flurries: A Book About Snow (Amazing Science: Weather)
The Best Hands-On Winter STEM Activities for Kids
Bring the classroom to life with these winter STEM activities! There is so much you can learn with these hands on winter STEM activities for kids. Kids will have a blast with these hands on winter activities.
Winter Science Activities
If you want to check out the best winter science experiments for kids from toddlers through middle school, here are the best winter science experiments!
These Instant Ice Experiments are the perfect winter science experiments to try with kids!
Try these simple Winter Science Fair Projects that kids will enjoy doing!
These Fun Winter Science Experiments in Jars will keep kids loving science all winter long!
Winter Technology Activities
Bring the classroom to life with these fun winter technology activities!
Learn how to use ice to magnify! when you learn How to Make a Magnifying Glass with ice!
Make a snowstorm model inside a jar and learn about weather patterns in the Snow Storm in a Jar experiment.
Winter Engineering Activities
You’ll have a blast with these hands-on winter engineering activities!
Can you get ice to burn? Older kids can try it in this ice science experiment (with the help of an adult, of course). Ice can’t burn, right? Learn how that fact isn’t necessarily true in this engineering project!
Make Your Own Snowglobe with a fun Fortnite twist!
Preschoolers can explore how to dress up penguins and design the look of a penguin in this felt penguin dress-up activity for preschoolers.
Older kids will love this tutorial on how to build a LEGO snowman in 3D!
This Snow Globe Science Project has a fun Pokemon twist!
Winter Math Activities
Preschoolers can learn to count to 10 with this fun Penguin 10-Frame Worksheet.
Practice math with penguins by doing these penguin math and counting activities for preschool.
Grab these Preschool Snowman Printables that have more than just math activities and are tons of fun for preschoolers!
Winter STEM Classroom Sets
If you don’t have time to gather the supplies yourself, you’ll love these winter science experiment kits for the classroom!
Most of these fun experiment boxes are designed for elementary school, but many of them touch on middle school science topics as well.
Month-by-Month STEM Activities for Winter
Teachers will appreciate these complete January STEM Activities that you can print and use right now in your classroom!
When February rolls around, try out these easy Valentines STEM activities so kids can keep learning throughout the month of February in a fun and seasonal way!
Is March winter or spring? Technically, most of March is still winter, but most of us are ready for the transition to spring at that time. Here are March STEM activities to try during the month of March!
December is a fun winter month, and even though technically winter doesn’t start until the end of the month, we still think of December as a winter month.
These STEM activities for December will keep kids learning all month long!
Winter STEM Activities for Every Grade
We have a list of suitable STEM activities for winter for every grade from preschool to middle school!
Preschoolers will have the most fun with these Winter Science Experiments for Preschoolers hand selected for kids age 3-5.
Kindergarten kids are so much fun! Try these Winter STEM Activities for Kindergarten with your class this year or do them at home with a kid age 5-6!
In first grade, STEM activities are best when they are hands-on because kids 6-7 love hands-on learning! Winter STEM Activities for 1st Grade are also easy for teachers to put together.
Any kid age 7-8 would have so much fun doing these Winter STEM Activities for 2nd Grade!
All of these Winter STEM Activities for 3rd Grade are designed with kids ages 7-9 in mind! 3rd graders will love the hands-on winter activities and teachers will love the low-prep project ideas!
Everyone knows that kids ages 8-10 are tons of fun to teach! These Winter STEM Activities for 4th Grade are the perfect thing to try with a fourth grade class or at home with a curious kid.
If you teach fifth grade or have a kid ages 10-12, check out these fun Winter STEM Activities for 5th Grade.
Kids in middle school will love this list of Winter STEM Activities for Middle School and teachers will love that the projects are more involved for reaching the STEM learning objectives in middle school.