Christmas is a great time to try lots of easy science with little ones. I’ve pulled together a list of my favourite Christmas science ideas for preschoolers, so hopefully, you’ll find something you like.
I also have a FREE Christmas Science eBook jam-packed full of activities like jumping snowmen, ice fishing, optical illusions and festive lava lamps.

Christmas Science for Preschoolers
Flying Elf Hats
Make flying elf or Santa hats with a paper cone and an empty milk container!

Shadow puppets
Learn about light with these easy Christmas shadow puppets. Change the distance between the light source and the puppet to investigate how the shadow changes size.

Candy cane oobleck
Our candy cane goo smells delicious and is lovely to pick up and hold too! Scrunch it, squish it, put toys in it or use it with a sieve.

Festive sink or float challenge
Try our super simple Christmas decoration sink or float activity. Remember only to use decorations you don’t mind getting wet.

Try wrapping an item that sinks in bubble wrap as an extra challenge. It should now float!
Christmas fine motor skills
Work on those fine motor skills with this fun rescue the jingle bells activity. Another idea is to make your own Jingle Bells by adding noisy items to a container.
Christmas scents
This Christmas scents game from Fantastic Fun and Learning looks fantastic too! You could also try it with my Christmas-scented play dough.

A Christmas sensory bin is fun to set up and use at this time of year too! Pretend snow, tinsel, decorations, festive plants, and trees all work well.

Build a snowman challenge
Build a marshmallow snowman using different sticky materials to hold it together. Liquid glucose, icing and marshmallow fluff are all good things to try.

Christmas magnetism challenge
Learn about magnetism with a simple magnetic Christmas tree. The idea behind this is that children move the baubles around the tree with a magnet.

More Christmas science ideas for preschoolers
Make an exploding snowman like MomBrite.

Try the good old skittles experiment arranging the skittles in a Christmassy shape.
These ice castles are brilliant from Fun a Day but do take care of cold ice and little hands.
Can you think of any more Christmas science ideas for preschoolers for me?

More Easy Science for Kids
If you enjoyed these, don’t forget to check out my vast collection of science experiments for Early Years!
My complete collection of Christmas Science Experiments includes Santa science experiments, Elf STEM challenges and lots of great printable science activities for kids of all ages.

Last Updated on November 30, 2022 by Emma Vanstone
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