Winter STEM Activities for Middle School

It is a challenge to keep students engaged when the weather is changing and holidays are around the corner. If you are struggling to keep your students’ attention and get to winter break, you are not alone! Now imagine having exciting, winter STEM activities on hand to keep your students learning and having fun through the last day of school. This bundle of winter STEM challenges is sure to keep your students' interest even amid holiday excitement!

Bump up the learning, fun, and SAVINGS with STEM Challenges for every season!

In each STEM challenge, students are tasked with using the design process and household materials to solve winter-themed problems. Grab this resource today so you can take a break from planning and know your students will still be learning and having fun as you count down to your winter break!

What’s included in the winter STEM activities bundle?

Winter STEM Challenges

• Cookie Delivery STEM Challenge: Challenge your students to create packaging that will protect a single cookie as it is shipped through the mail. Then test the prototypes by dropping, throwing, and shaking the packages.

• Hot Cocoa Cup STEM Challenge: Your students will learn about insulators, conductors, and thermal energy as they design and test a cup to keep hot cocoa as warm for as long as possible.

• LED Valentine's Day Cards: Learn about circuits and create Valentines that include an LED light bulb that lights up when a button is pressed.

• Lunar Lanterns: Learn about the Lunar New Year. Then students will design and create tabletop lanterns using CAD and a 3D printer.

• Snowflake STEM Challenge: In this project, students will learn about the symmetry and formation of real snowflakes. Then they will use household materials to create their snowflake models.

• Bonus Material
  • An engineering design process rubric that can be used with any middle school STEM challenge
  • Supply lists for stocking your STEM lab with materials that work for a wide range of STEM challenges
  • Donation letters to help get supplies donated by your students' families and community members
  • Suggestions for where to find free or low-cost materials for STEM challenges

Each of the winter STEM activities also has:

✔ Printable, Google, and Easel versions of the student activities and worksheets

✔ Detailed lesson plans and slideshows for easy lesson facilitation

✔ Flexible building materials, so you can use what you have on hand

✔ Easy-to-use grading rubrics

✔ Certificates to celebrate your students’ successes

How can the winter STEM challenges be used in your middle school classroom?

• Keep students learning and engaged before the winter holidays
• Practice problem-solving with the engineering design process
• Plan special STEM activities to celebrate Christmas, the Lunar New Year, and Valentine's Day
• Use a challenge to keep students on task when you have unusual schedules or low attendance due to celebrations, field trips, testing, or other interruptions
• Plan fun winter-themed activities for your STEM club
• Give students opportunities to practice 21st-century skills, such as communication, collaboration, and critical thinking
• Leave the middle school STEM challenges for engaging sub-lesson plans
• Assign the activities to be completed on virtual or asynchronous learning days
• Use the resources for extra credit, holiday break packets, home learning, or extension activities

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