Those long winter months are almost upon us, and I don’t know about you, but this is when things start to get a little stale in the classroom. You’ve been there, right? You hit the ground running in September and everything is new and exciting for your students. By January though both you and your students have settled into the same old routine. Just when you are starting to feel in the groove, they are begging for some novelty! That’s why I created these hands-on, engaging winter science activities to help you mix it up!
I’ve found that nothing helps students get re-engaged with the content more than hands-on science activities and experiments. Putting together experiments can be a lot of work though! So, I want to help you make science experiments less complicated and more fun for your classroom with these activities!
Winter Science Activities
This Winter Science Activities and Experiments learning packet is filled with 5 hands-on and engaging winter science activities that your students are sure to love.
You will love them too as they are low-prep and can be used in a variety of ways such as whole group, station work, or even sent home for some extra family fun!
Winter Science Experiments include:
- Create Your Own Snow
- Melting Hands
- What Will Make Hot Chocolate Packets Dissolve The Fastest?
- Snowman Snot
- Snowball Catapults
Science activities are fun to do all year long, but there’s just something really fun about doing winter science activities.
Science Activity Sneak Peek: Create your own snow!
If you happen to live in an area where you don’t get much snow or even cold, it can feel like a challenge to complete winter themed activities. That’s why this simple winter science experiment is so perfect!
With just a few simple supplies like baking soda, hair conditioner, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and pom-poms, even your older students will have a super fun time making their own snow.
I love this simple activity because it encourages students to practice following a step-by-step recipe which can be challenging. After creating their own snow, students will share their observations of the process.
They will take time to discuss how they used their 5 senses during the creation of the snow. The best part is that each student can take their snow home for more fun later!
Science Activity Sneak Peek: Snowball catapult
The snowball Catapult is the perfect winter STEM activity for your classroom! You won’t need any fancy materials, and the best part is, you probably already have everything on hand!
While completing this winter science activity, students work collaboratively to create a catapult from materials on their table.
This activity is really easy to differentiate. For more advanced students, consider giving them time to research catapults and make a list of why they think these catapults are successful.
Once they brainstorm and sketch out their design, they test their catapults and answer questions to help them reflect on how their design could be improved.
For your higher-level learners, you can ask them to take time to make improvements to their catapults and test them again. It’s a great way to work in the design process.
Science Activity Sneak Peek: Melting Hands
Melting Hands is great for fostering problem solving skills! This is also a favorite of my students. It’s so fun to see how students take on the challenge.
This one takes a little prep because you will need to fill gloves with water and freeze them.
Consider asking your school nurse for some gloves. There are likely to be a size or two they don’t use very often and have extra on hand. If not, they are easy to find at any drug store.
After freezing the water in the gloves, I suggest putting them in a cooler just before you leave for school, or if your cafeteria ladies don’t mind, storing them in the cafeteria freezer.
When it’s time for the experiment, give each group a frozen hand. The objective of the experiment is to melt the hand without touching it with your own hands.
I have seen some really hilarious ideas in my classroom. Be sure to take some pictures. This is a great photo opportunity for some yearbook or classroom website images.
Benefits of Winter Science Experiments
This Winter Science Activities and Experiments learning packet will help your students:
- Learn to work as a team, consider everyone’s approach, and make team decisions
- Practice reading and completing recipes
- Work on problem solving skills
- Hone their observation skills by having them record their observations during and after the experiments
You can grab all 5 of these winter science activities in my store on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Save these winter science activities
Love these ideas? Save them to your favorite science Pinterest board and follow me for more upper elementary teaching ideas!
Wanting to learn how to manage your class during science experiments? Check out this article to learn a few classroom management tips during science!
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