By Tyler King
Sparkling lights and circuitry are bringing a technological twist to this holiday season for elementary schoolers! As the holiday season approaches, students can engage in holiday cheer while meeting the thrill of hands-on learning with technology. You might wonder what we mean, so we will simplify it. Here are three festive circuit activities for teachers to captivate students this season.
1. Holiday Lights Circuitry
In this activity, students create a circuit to light up multiple cuttings of holiday light strings atop a sheet of cardstock. A battery powers the circuit, and aluminum foil and brass fasteners connect the electricity to the holiday lights’ wires. This project teaches students about the flow of electricity and the multiple aspects of a circuit, including the power source, connectors, and load. You can also use this activity in lessons regarding closed and open circuits. You can alter this project to teach students about various circuits, both simple and complex.
Activity link: https://ashevillescience.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Holiday-Light-Circuitry.pdf
Materials needed: cardstock, aluminum foil, tape, Christmas lights, a 9v battery, and scissors.
2. Holiday Card Circuits
In this activity, students make a holiday card with an LED light-up feature on the cover. A flat battery connects to aluminum foil on the inside of the card to power a small LED sticking out of the front cover. To make this activity festive, your students can place the outer light in a holiday drawing, such as Rudolph’s nose or a light-up star atop a Christmas tree. This project teaches students about electric currents and how a power source can be connected to a load with something as simple as aluminum foil.
Activity link: https://www.kiwico.com/diy/holiday-events/winter-break/holiday-card-circuits
Materials needed: cardstock, 3v coin cell batteries, aluminum foil, LEDs, tape, glue, and markers.
3. Christmas Lime Battery
In this activity, students create a Christmas tree-shaped project with a light-up star at the top. Copper wire is connected to limes with nails to use the electricity found in the citrus fruit. Using the power from the limes, the LED bulb lights up. Students can also decorate the structure with pipe cleaners or other materials. This project teaches students about the conductive properties of ions found in acids and, therefore, acidic fruits. It also teaches students how to connect a circuit and use a power source to light an LED.
Important: Although the following activity guide link suggests using this activity for young children, we recommend it for students in grades 3-5.
Activity link: https://www.preschoolplayandlearn.com/christmas-lime-battery-electricity-experiment-for-preschoolers/
Materials needed: six limes, six nails, heavy copper wire, wire cutters, LEDs, and electrical tape.
With these three activities, you can engage your students in holiday activities to introduce them to electrical circuitry. Implement them in your lessons or daily activities, and students will indeed have something new to learn and enjoy!
Do you want more resources on the topic of festive circuit activities? NSTEM’s vast resources database provides thousands of searchable STEM resources by category, school level, and state. This comprehensive library includes info on enrichment activities, curricula, internships, scholarships, and more. Check out a free sampling here. Or get an NSTEM membership today to unlock the complete list.
Grades 3-5 continue the STEM education journey, where students are interested in the natural world and how things work, responding to stories told by teachers that give purpose and meaning to STEM disciplines, which molds them into thinkers, problem solvers, and creators. The National STEM Honor Society sees grades 3-5 as a critical point in the NSTEM journey. To start your grade 3-5 chapter of the National STEM Honor Society, click here.
