Elf treats, milk and cookies, snowballs, snowmen, and candy cane sleds! The weeks before winter break are an exciting time-- keep kids engaged with five Christmas science labs. Your class will love the holiday fun, and YOU can rest easy knowing your students are learning about properties of matter, force and motion, relative density, and thermal insulation.Ā
Students practice measuring, collecting and recording data, and drawing conclusions. This one has been a crowd-pleaser for 12 years, and it's the most fun your students will have all December!
5 Investigations
1. Milk and Cookies:Ā Properties of Matter
Which of three cookies absorbs the most milk?
2. Snowball Launch:Ā Force & Motion
How can you design a device that launches a snowball the farthest?
3. An Elf's Treat:Ā Relative Density
Why does the elf's drink look so unusual?
4. Help! I'm Melting!:Ā Thermal Insulation
Which material best keeps a snowman from melting?
5. Candy Cane Sled:Ā Force & Motion
How can you turn a candy cane sled into a zipline?
Christmas Labs: Science & STEM
Elf treats, milk and cookies, snowballs, snowmen, and candy cane sleds! Keep kids engaged before winter break with five Christmas science labs.
$6.50 USD
Each Investigation Includes
ā†’ Materials List and Teacher Prep
ā†’ Suggested Teacher Use
ā†’ Student Directions Page
ā†’ Printable Student Sheet (folds to fit in a science notebook)
ā†’ Digital Student Sheet in Google Slides
ā†’ Santa and non-Santa versions of Milk and Cookies
Ā Time
Depending on your students and your teaching style, each investigation will likely take 45-60 minutes to complete. I would plan for five class periods to complete all of the labs.
ā˛• Add to cart and get started with the best week of science before winter break!
$6.50 ADD TO CART
Join the 11,000 teachers using Science Penguin Christmas Labs!
Samantha P.
"These were great STEM activities for students to have something fun to do before Christmas break while learning something! They were engaged and excited to participate."
Lisa B.
"I used this for our last week before winter break. Students were throughouly engaged each day AND the activities were easily done."
Sarah C.
"This was awesome and so much fun to do with my class leading up to our Christmas break. We had wrapped up our science unit and this was a perfect way to keep our STEM group activities going. They really enjoyed it!"
Jennifer D.
"These Christmas STEM and science labs were a great way to keep students engaged right before winter break in my 6th through 8th grade learning center. The sled, snowman, and elf challenges encouraged teamwork, planning, and hands on problem solving. Students stayed focused because the activities felt festive but still required real thinking. This is a strong option for maintaining structure and learning during the busy holiday season."
Lynn M.
"You truly outdo yourself in making engaging, interactive labs that tie beautifully into our state science standards. Thank you for the newest lab, the candy cane sled!"
Frances D.
"I especially appreciate the variety of hands-on investigations included in this resource. Students have opportunities to apply scientific thinking and the engineering design process through meaningful activities centered around sleds, snowmen, elves, and other festive themes. The lessons are perfect for whole-class instruction, STEM centers, small-group collaboration, enrichment, or science rotations throughout December."
This resource is part of the Holiday Science Bundle.
This special holiday science bundle includes over 20 fun activities for fall, Halloween, winter, Christmas, Earth Day, and Valentine's Day!
