Preschool Christmas Science Center Ideas

Hands-on Holiday Activities for Young Children

Nov 25, 2008

Christmas Themed Science, Photo by Roswitha Schacht

A Christmas-themed science table provides fun, hands-on explorations in a preschool classroom.

Preschool science centers provide hands-on learning experiences and are a great way for children to learn science through play and investigation. The science of Christmas can come alive for children when preschool teachers provide holiday activities that explore simple science concepts. Preschoolers use their senses as learning tools and the science activities that follow are full of sensory exploration all about the Christmas holidays.

Evergreen Tree Investigation – Holiday Activity

A live tabletop evergreen tree offers hands-on exploration opportunities for children. Small potted evergreen trees are sold in many grocery stores and garden stores during the holiday season. Along with the excitement of Christmas, preschoolers will be able to investigate an evergreen tree with a few basic science observation tools:

magnifying glasses might interest preschoolers in taking a closer look at the evergreen needles
tape measures may be used to measure tree height and width or needle size
books such as Winter Trees by Carole Gerber [Charlesbridge Publishing, 2008] will show an evergreen tree in a story
plastic figures of animals that live in and around trees provide dramatic play props

Preschool teachers may want to read the book, You Can Use a Magnifying Glass to preschoolers as an introductory activity. Children usually take the lead and use open ended science center in different ways depending on their interests and stage of development. Preschoolers may decide to place an owl, a squirrel or a bird in or under the evergreen tree. Preschool teachers can read fiction books about animals and trees during story time and leave the books in the science center.

Evergreen Cutting Science Activity

Cutting with child safe scissors promotes hand coordination and fine motor skills. Allowing preschoolers to cut the needles off of an evergreen branch is a multi-sensory activity. As preschoolers grasp and cut evergreen needles, they will explore science concepts through touch as well as through smell. Children will need to wash their hands after cutting evergreen needles.

Pinecone Science Center Activity

A collection of different sizes and types of pinecones can be explored and sorted by young children. Science investigation tools for pinecone exploration include:

magnifying glass
tape measure
tongs
divided containers such as muffin tins, ice cube trays and egg cartons
paint chips in brown tones
books about pinecones such as From Pinecone to Pine Tree by Ellen Weiss [Children's Press(CT), 2007] that show preschoolers the purpose of pinecones and why trees produce pinecones

Preschool teachers may want to make a simple size gauge by tracing three different sized ovals onto a large piece of construction paper and laminating the paper. Teachers can label the ovals "small", "medium" and "large". Preschoolers will be able to lay the pine cones on top of the ovals to gauge the size of each pinecone. In addition, teachers can set three containers in the Christmas science center and tape a small oval to one container, a medium oval to a second container and a large oval to a third container. Preschoolers may choose to sort the pinecones by size. A similar activity can be set up using paint chips so that children can sort pinecones according to color shade.

The Smells of Christmas – Preschool Sensory Activity

Preschoolers will use their noses to guess what’s inside containers. Place different smelling Christmas items into individual containers (or individual clean socks) that prevent children from seeing what’s inside. Preschoolers will smell each container and guess what’s inside.

Great smelling items for this activity include:

peppermint candy
cinnamon stick
a snip of Christmas tree
gingersnap cookie
cloves.

Scratch and sniff books such as The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia M. Scarry [Golden Books, 2003] can also give preschoolers opportunities to use their sense of smell at a science table.

Shiny or Dull Sorting Science Activity

Shiny things reflect light while dull items don’t reflect light well. A high interest science lesson for Christmas, preschoolers will have fun shining a flashlight on items to determine whether the item is shiny or dull. Many Christmas items are shiny and plenty are dull so this activity acquaints preschoolers with popular items associated with Christmas. Books to add next to this science activity are Is it Rough? Is it smooth? Is it shiny? by Tana Hoban [Greenwillow, 1984] and Shiny and Dull by Angela Royston [Heinemann, 2003].

Shiny items include:

tinsel
foil wrapping paper
ornaments
metallic ribbon
jingle bells
metallic Christmas cards
glittery items.

Examples of dull items for this activity are:

felt Christmas stocking
flat toned wrapping paper
miniature Christmas wreath
candle
ornaments made of fabric
ribbon

A preschool Christmas themed science center adds hands-on learning fun to a classroom. Young children will spend plenty of time immersed in science activities at a science table with a Christmas theme. Engage young children with holiday activities that use the senses and explore science in a fun way.