This is especially true when you’re a mom.  The days fly by in a mix of decorating, secret shopping trips, and holiday parties.  

Even though there is so much that needs done, you still want to do a few Christmas activities with the kids as they count down to the big day.

Christmas STEM Activities are a fun way to mix learning into the holiday fun.   

These STEM activities for kids  are perfect for a wide variety of ages.  They’d be fun to do as a family or to keep the kids occupied while you wrap presents.  

Does your house have an elf that visits this time of year?  

For more holiday STEM activities, check out these Elf on the Shelf STEM Activities.

Christmas STEM Activities 

Engineer an Elf House — Does your elf need a place to rest for a day or two?  Challenge your child to build a comfy resting spot that’s large enough for your elf to sit and watch the world go by.  

Binary Name Ornaments –Teach kids coding skills while making these colorful beaded ornaments.  

Algorithm Christmas Tree — This free printable Christmas coding activity uses Blockly blocks to guide kids as they draw their very own tree.  

Graphite Circuit Christmas Tree — Amaze your child with this simple Christmas STEAM activity.  They’ll have fun drawing a tree and learning how to make it light up.  

Engineer an Ice Lantern —  Making these beautiful lanterns is a great way to teach kids what happens to water as it freezes.  Make several lanterns and use them to decorate your walkway for guests during the holidays.  

Build an Ornament Holder — Everyone has that one special ornament they love.  Challenge your child to build a special ornament holder to display their ornament this year.  

Candy Cane Building Challenge — This fun Christmas STEM challenge invites kids to try building a 3D structure from candy canes that can stand on its own.  

Tinkering Trees — Preschoolers will have fun using items from the hardware store to build their very own tiny trees.  This activity is great for working on those fine motor skills.

Bubbling Christmas Lights — When I was a child we had Christmas tree lights that actually bubbled when you plugged in the tree.  They mesmerized me.  Discover how you can use chemistry to create your very own version of those bubbling lights with this STEM activity. 

Gum Drop Christmas Trees —  This is such a sweet idea.  Kids of all ages will have fun using those colorful Christmas candies to engineer 3 dimensional trees.  

Melting Snowmen — This is such a fun way to use some of the packing peanuts that come in packages this time of year.  Kids of all ages will want to do this one over and over again.  

Christmas Cup Tower — Can your child build their very own Christmas tree out of cups?   Pom-poms add to the fun when used as colorful decorations for your tree.

Rudolph Pipe Cleaner Circut — Kids can learn about circuits with this simple activity.

Snowflake Slime — Does your child love homemade slime?  This super simple recipe is perfect for the holidays.  

Rudolph Balloon Race — Whose reindeer will win the race?  Kids will have fun with this simple activity.

Design a Sleigh for Santa —  Give your child the opportunity to design and build a new sleigh for Santa, using recyclables!  

Crystal Ornaments — Discover how crystals form, all while creating sparkling ornaments you can hang on the tree.  

Build an Elf Zipline — Has your elf gotten stuck on a shelf that is up way too high?  Challenge your child to find a way to help the elf get down safely with this fun idea.  

When it comes to having fun with the kids this holiday, these Christmas STEM activities will be a huge hit.  

You may also enjoy:

• Candy Cane Games —  Playing a holiday game together is a fun family activity for the month.  And these simple games work great at parties, too.  
• Homemade Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make —  Kids of all ages will have creating ornaments to decorate the tree.  And you will treasure these for years to come.  They make cute gifts, too!
• Printable Christmas Scavenger Hunt —  Kids love scavenger hunts.  This one is perfect for the holidays.  

Originally published 29, 2019. 

The post Christmas STEM Activities first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Trees get decorated.  Stockings are hung. 

And kids everywhere get a little antsy counting down the days until Christmas.  

Playing a candy cane game together is a fun family activity for the month.  And these simple games work great at parties, too.   

In fact, candy cane activities like these are some of our favorite Christmas crafts & activities to do in December. 

These games using candy canes would be fun kids Christmas party activities.  

And if you are looking for craft ideas, these Homemade Christmas Ornaments would be fun to make with the kids.

Candy Cane Games 

Candy Cane Fishing — Kids of all ages will have fun making a candy cane fishing pole and using it in this silly Christmas minute-to-win-it game.  

Candy Cane Alphabet Game — Preschoolers will have fun using candy to form the letters of the alphabet. 

Who Stole the Candy Cane — This is a fun twist on the old “Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar” game.  Kids will have fun taking turns guessing who took the candy.

Candy Cane I Spy —  This free printable game is perfect for working on counting skills as well as visual discrimination.  

Candy Cane Snag — Imagine tag, with candy canes….  This one would be tons of fun to play outside.  

Candy Hunt from the Elf — Does your home have an elf?  Print out this note and he or she can set up a fun hide-n-seek game for your kids.

Bobbing for Candy Canes — You’ve heard of bobbing for apples…  This is a fun twist on it for the holidays.  It would be fun at a kids party, or even a group of adults!  

Candy Cane Card Game — This is a fun twist to the popular game of Spoons. 

Candy Cane Catch — Create your very own candy version of the ball and cup game with this fun Christmas game for kids.  

Candy Cane Hunt —  Why wait for spring for a candy hunt?  Check out this Christmas scavenger hunt that will leave kids smiling.  

No matter which candy cane game you try, the kids are going to have a blast playing with this colorful candy.  

You may also enjoy:

• Beaded Candy Cane Ornament 
• Christmas STEM:  Graphite Circuit Christmas Tree 
• Elf on the shelf STEM activities

The post Candy Cane Games for Kids first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

There are gifts to buy, parties to attend, family visiting from out of town…. Plus, there are all the usual commitments like school, work, and running kids to various activities.

This year seems like it’s been extra busy.

Somewhere in all the chaos we’ve managed to squeeze in a few new Christmas STEM activities.

One of our favorites is making a Christmas-themed graphite circuit and creating pictures that really light up!

Graphite circuits are one of our favorite STEM activities for kids. 

This STEM project is really a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) activity that is perfect for elementary kids and tweens.  

You may also like our Elf on the Shelf STEM Activities.

Christmas Tree Graphite Circuit

Materials Needed:

• Graphite Pencil
• Computer Paper
• 9 Volt Battery
• Mini 5 mm LED Bulb
• Clear Tape
• Colored Pencils

Start by having your child draw a simple Christmas tree on the paper.

Graphite is a weak conductor, so the light bulb will light up better with a smaller tree.  I suggest making the tree no taller than 6 inches for the best effect.

Once the tree is drawn, have them color it however they wish.  We settled on simple red ball ornaments, but your child might want a variety of ornaments and garland decorating their tree.

The next step is to use your graphite pencil to draw a thick line around the tree.

You want the line to be close to 1/4 inch thick, with no white spaces in the lines as you draw.

Leave 1/4 inch space at the bottom and the top of the tree where you don’t use the graphite pencil.

Use a small amount of tape to fasten each of the wire leads from your LED bulb to the graphite outline that is at the top of the tree so that the bulb straddles the empty space.

We discovered that the mini LED Christmas lights we have worked great for this activity. Just take the bulb out of the plastic casing.

Flip your 9 volt battery upside down and place it so it straddles the gap at the bottom of the tree, with one prong on each of the black graphite pencil lines.

The bulb on top of the tree should light up.  If not, turn your battery around so the positive and negative prongs touch the opposite sides of the tree.

Why does the graphite circuit work?

Graphite is a conductor, which means electricity can travel along it.  When you place the battery at the bottom of the tree and the LED bulb at the top, you close the circuit.  This allows electricity from the battery to travel along the graphite lines to the LED bulb, making it light up.

We had lots of fun with this Christmas STEM activity and are looking forward to experimenting more with graphite circuits in the future.

Get more fun ideas like this and a free Christmas Scavenger Hunt delivered to your email by subscribing to our newsletter.

You’ll also like:

• Melting Snowmen STEM
• Candy Cane Fishing Game 
• STEM Activities for Kids

The post Christmas STEM: Graphite Circuit Christmas Tree first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Every December we have fun trying new  Christmas crafts & activities for kids  as we count down to the big day.

Like lots of families we have an elf, although ours is a bit different — we asked Santa for an elf that didn’t move on his own.  The kids have fun each day hunting for wherever I’ve hidden him.  (And on days I forget, well, then they get to hide him for me.)

This year we plan on having some fun with these Elf on the Shelf STEM activities.

Not every kid likes to craft.

But almost every child I’ve met likes to tinker and create things.   That’s what makes  Christmas STEM challenges like these so popular for December.

You might even want to add them to your Christmas countdown.

Elf on the Shelf STEM

Is your elf stuck somewhere too high to get down?  Build an Elf Zipline so he or she can get down safely.

Oh, no!  The elf can’t carry his candy treats up to the shelf.  Build a Pulley for the Elf   and help him get the candy.

Does your Christmas friend have a special place to sit?  Your child will have fun designing an Elf Throne with Legos. 

Kids will have fun Engineering a 3-D Christmas Tree that is just the right size for their friend.

Where can your tiny friend rest after a busy night?  Your child will enjoy measuring and building their own elf house.

Does your child love slime?  They’ll love creating this Elf Snot Christmas Slime this December.

Kids of all ages will have fun with this Fizzy Elf Lab.

Catch your elf in the act with this fun Elf Trap STEM activity.

Help your elf reach the top of a paper cup tree in this elf STEM challenge.

If you like these Elf on the Shelf STEM ideas, you’ll also like:

• STEM Activities for Kids 
• Melting Snowman STEM 
• Take the Kids on a Candy Cane Hunt

Get more fun ideas, and a printable Christmas Scavenger Hunt, delivered to your email by subscribing to our newsletter.

The post Elf on the Shelf STEM Activities first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.