Keep the kids busy over Thanksgiving with these easy STEM Challenges. Science activities and challenges are a great way for kids to learn without realising. I’ve made these challenges simple, inexpensive and great fun to do with family and friends!
Learn about strong shapes with a turkey tower, find out why calcium is so important for bone health with a bendy bone challenge and lots more!
Easy STEM Challenges for Thanksgiving
Turkey Tower
Use toothpicks and marshmallows to build a tower tall enough to hold a small turkey toy. If you don’t have toothpicks, spaghetti is a fun alternative.
Shapes are important to think about when building toothpick towers. Triangles, arches, and domes are all strong shapes used by engineers to make structures stronger. Experiment with square shapes and triangles as you build your toothpick tower.
Bendy Bones
Soaking cooked turkey or chicken bones in vinegar is a great way to learn about the importance of calcium. The vinegar dissolves the calcium, making the bone bendy!
Cranberry Boats
Cranberries float because they have lots of air pockets. This makes them less dense than water, so they float! Add toothpicks to cranberries to make a raft or boat shape.
Pumpkin Pie Parachute
Making a parachute is a great way to learn about forces. The parachute slows the pumpkin pie’s fall because it has a larger surface area than just the pie itself, increasing air resistance and slowing the pie’s descent.
Thanksgiving STEM Challenges
I have two free options available if you want to print out my challenges. The first option is the basic challenges on one page. Option two is the basic challenges and investigation worksheets for the Turkey Tower, Cranberry Boats and Pumpkin Pie Parachute.
More science ideas for Thanksgiving
Learn about filters with a delicious apple cider recipe.
Learn about circuits with a potato battery. This is much easier than you think, but it does require some special materials.
Make a mini basketball hoop and catapult to learn about forces.
Let us know if you have any more ideas for Thanksgiving STEM Challenges.
Last Updated on November 26, 2025 by Emma Vanstone
