12 Christmas STEM Activities for Kids Using Kitchen Supplies

Set candy canes on a thin layer of baking soda in a muffin tin. Fill small cups with vinegar, add a drop of red or green food coloring, and let kids squirt it over the canes with an eye dropper. The fizz is baking soda and vinegar making a gas, and the stripes slowly bleed color.

Ages: 3 and up (an adult pours the vinegar)

Prep: 5 minutes

Mess: Medium

Supplies: candy canes, baking soda, white vinegar, food coloring, muffin tin, eye droppers

Safety: candy canes are a choking hazard under 4, so keep them off tongues and away from the youngest. Keep vinegar away from eyes and do not let anyone taste the fizz.

Drop one candy cane into each of four jars: cold water, warm water, ice water and oil. Guess which one will dissolve first, then check every few minutes. Warm water wins, oil barely changes it, and kids can see why with their own eyes.

Ages: 4 and up (an adult handles the warm water)

Prep: 10 minutes

Mess: Low

Supplies: 4 candy canes, 4 clear jars, cold, ice and warm water, cooking oil, a spoon

Safety: warm water should be warm, not hot, and handled by an adult. The candy canes are for testing, not eating afterward.

Build a flat six-sided snowflake by joining marshmallows with pretzel sticks. Make a hexagon first, then add arms. Ask: which shape stays up, and which falls over? It is the same engineering as a bridge, just soft.

Ages: 4 and up

Prep: 5 minutes

Mess: Low

Supplies: mini marshmallows, pretzel sticks, a plate

Safety: marshmallows and pretzel pieces are choking hazards for children under 4. Check for food allergies, and keep this one at the table.

Freeze water in a pie dish or cupcake tin the night before. Pop the ice disc onto a tray and sprinkle salt on top, then drip colored water from droppers into the grooves. The salt melts channels in the ice, and the color follows them like a stained glass window.

Ages: 3 and up

Prep: 10 minutes plus freezing overnight

Mess: Medium

Supplies: ice discs, coarse salt, food coloring, cups, droppers, a baking tray

Safety: salt is not for eating. Keep the activity on a tray, wipe up spills to avoid slips and do not leave small hands holding cold ice for long.

Fill a large tub with water and add shatterproof plastic ornaments, a wooden block, a foil ball and a flat sheet of foil. Ask kids to guess first. Then drop each one and sort them into sink and float. Squish the foil into a boat and test again.

Ages: 3 and up

Prep: 5 minutes

Mess: Medium

Supplies: a big tub, plastic ornaments, wooden blocks, foil, a towel

Safety: use only unbreakable ornaments, never glass. Stay beside water at all times and empty the tub afterward.

Give each child 15 to 20 green paper cups and one question: how tall can you build a tree? Stack them in a pyramid, then count the cups in each row. Add a paper star on top. Rebuild with fewer cups and see how short the tree gets.

Ages: 3 and up

Prep: 2 minutes

Mess: None

Supplies: green paper cups, a paper star

Safety: paper cups are safe, but stay close if a tower is on a tabletop. Toddlers under 3 can stack and knock down only.

Fold squares of foil into sleigh shapes and float them in a tub. Load each with large wooden blocks one at a time and count how many it holds before sinking. Then redesign: wider, higher sides or a flatter bottom, and test again.

Ages: 4 and up

Prep: 10 minutes

Mess: Medium

Supplies: foil sheets, a tub of water, large wooden blocks, a towel

Safety: use big blocks only, never coins or beads, which are small enough to choke on. Stay beside the water.

Cut a spiral from a green paper circle and hang it from a string in a doorway. A gentle breath, a hand fan or a draft makes it spin. Ask where the air is moving. Decorate it with stickers or a drawn star at the top.

Ages: 4 and up (an adult cuts the spiral)

Prep: 10 minutes

Mess: Low

Supplies: green paper, blunt scissors, string, stickers

Safety: keep the string short and never leave it around necks. Use it only in a doorway or on a low hook.

Make a catapult from two craft sticks, a clothespin and a rubber band, then fire cotton ball snowballs at a row of paper cups. Move the target farther away and ask what you change to launch farther: press harder or lean the stick.

Ages: 5 and up (an adult adds the rubber band)

Prep: 10 minutes

Mess: None

Supplies: craft sticks, a clothespin, rubber bands, big cotton balls, paper cups

Safety: rubber bands can snap, so an adult assembles and children aim away from faces. Use soft cotton balls only.

Bridge a gap between two stacks of blocks or books with one flat sheet of paper, and then test it with toy cars. It sags. Now fold the paper like an accordion and try again. Folded paper holds many more cars because the folds make it stiffer.

Ages: 5 and up

Prep: 5 minutes

Mess: None

Supplies: paper, two stacks of books, large toy cars

Safety: use large cars only. Keep the book stacks low so nothing falls on feet.

Fill sealed jars with large jingle bells, dry rice, dry pasta, cotton balls and crumpled foil. Tape the lids shut. Shake each jar and match the sounds, then sort them from loudest to quietest. Kids learn that different materials make different sounds.

Ages: 3 and up

Prep: 10 minutes

Mess: None

Supplies: plastic jars with lids, large jingle bells, rice, pasta, cotton balls, foil, tape

Safety: tape every lid shut, and keep the contents away from children under 3. Jingle bells must be large.

Tape a white sheet to a wall and cut reindeer and tree shapes from cardboard. Glue each to a craft stick. In a dim room, shine a flashlight on the shapes and watch the shadow grow when you move closer to the light. Ask kids how to make it small again.

Ages: 3 and up

Prep: 15 minutes

Mess: None

Supplies: cardboard, craft sticks, glue, a flashlight, a white sheet

Safety: use an LED flashlight, never a candle or a hot lamp, and have an adult cut the cardboard. Keep sticks out of mouths.