Winter STEM Activities
Looking for the perfect way to get your students excited about science and math? Look no further! While first graders may not initially be excited to learn about math or science separately, they love activities that allow them to use what they learn in math and science in a creative way. This is why first grade is the perfect age to get started with STEM activities.
STEM activities are perfect for students all year long. However, we especially love winter STEM activities for first grade! Winter can be a tough time for both teaching and learning. It is cold outside, there are a lot of changes in the school schedule, and overall the energy level can be a bit low.
To help you and your students stay excited about school during the winter months, add in a STEM activity once a week. By using a STEM activity once a week you ensure that your students are engaging in core concepts on a consistent basis – even throughout the hectic schedule changes!
In addition to making sure your students are learning and practicing important math and science skills every week, STEM challenges are a great way to help you as the teacher! While it may take some initial time to set-up your first STEM challenge, once you have it created you can use it for years to come! That means you have a ready to teach activity that you don’t have to plan for. Furthermore, an activity that will keep your students engaged!
The more students are engaged, the less likely there is an additional need for you to focus on managing the classroom. Therefore, you can enjoy teaching and maybe even a moment to take a breath while students are having fun solving their STEM problems!
Learn more about more about STEM activities for first grade here or keep reading to see our four favorite winter STEM activities for first grade!
Winter STEM Activities
Snow Catapult STEM
Whether you regularly have a snow day in your town or it is a far off dream, students will love thinking about the possibility of snow day in this STEM activity!
What’s the Problem: It’s the first snow day of the school year. All the children in the neighborhood decide to have a snowball fight. Your students need to build a way to launch the snowballs in order to win the snowball fight!
STEM Challenge: Have students build a way to launch snowballs for the snowball fight. Whoever’s snowball travels the farthest will win the fight!
Hibernation STEM
Combine this STEM challenge with other lessons on hibernation to help create an entire unit that you can use for several weeks during the winter.
What’s the Problem: Winter is coming and some animals are getting ready to hibernate. However, not all of them have space to hibernate! Your students will help the animals prepare by building a hibernating space to help the animals.
STEM Challenge: Provide your students with materials you already have in the classroom to build a hibernating space for an animal. They will have to make sure it has an opening big enough for the animal to get in and out. Students also need to make sure it won’t collapse during a storm.
Yeti Crossing STEM
While STEM is focused on having students solve problems in the real world you can get creative in first grade! Using creative real world problems is actually one of the most fun things about first grade STEM activities. Let your students engage their imagination in this Yeti themed activity.
What’s the Problem: Yet is planning a vacation to visit the Artic Ocean! He is looking forward to his trip but there is one problem – he can’t swim! Yeti is worried about crossing from one iceberg to another without getting wet.
STEM Challenge: Have your students help Yeti cross from one iceberg to another by building a rope to swing from one to another and back.
Snowflake STEM
Even if students have never seen snow in real life they will love the opportunity to create their own snow! This is also a great activity to combine with other research activities about snow and snowflakes.
What’s the Problem: Your students have been studying the shape of snowflakes under a microscope, but they melt so fast! Based on the snowflakes they have studied, they decided they want to create a non-melting model of a snowflake for others to see and study!
STEM Challenge: Have students construct a model of a snowflake that shows its true shape and that they can hang up to look like it is falling from the sky.
Use one of these each week or pick your favorites! However you choose to use STEM in your classroom, these activities are perfect to introduce your first graders to STEM or help them continue to develop their math and science skills – even in the middle of winter!
If you’re looking for more STEM activities for First and Second Graders you can visit our shop or you may be interested in these blog posts such as:
