Thanksgiving STEM Challenge for Kids

Think of all the delicious dishes set on your Thanksgiving table. From Turkey and mashed potatoes to corn and pie, there is lots to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is a great holiday to spend with family and friends. If you’re celebrating with children, hands-on activities like this Thanksgiving STEM Challenge for Kids is a great way to add some learning to the holiday.

STEM activities are a great way to reinforce science, technology, engineering and math skills. With this hands-on STEM challenge, kids will feel like they are playing a game.

You don’t need any special materials for this challenge and the free printables make set up quick and easy!

This activity is perfect to set up at the kids table on Thanksgiving dinner. It’s a simple activity to keep kids busy, and excited for the upcoming meal!

Thanksgiving STEM challenge shows a pinterest pin.

If you’re looking for more Thanksgiving STEM activities, check out the Top 3 Best Thanksgiving STEM Activities.

Thanksgiving STEM Challenge for Kids Materials

Since I usually do these STEM activities with my students in class, I love activities that are virtually free and only use simple materials. For this activity, you will need:

  • Free Printable Activity Card (“Turkey Table”)
  • Free Printable Food Images
  • Coins
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Paper (Printer Paper or Cardstock)
  • Tape (Optional)
Thanksgiving STEM challenge shows materials needed for a Thanksgiving STEM challenge.

The printables are available at the bottom of this post. The coins can be anything that has some weight to it. I used quarters, but you can use anything you have on hand. From small wooden blocks to erasers.

hands on project for kids shows two printable pages for the activity.

With some of my groups, I provided tape, but it is not necessary to the challenge. Not providing it as a supply makes the activity a bit more challenging, but it will work either way.

I suggest using cardstock, or any thicker paper, for young groups who are less experienced with STEM challenges. Thinner paper increases the difficulty and requires children to get more creative with their design in order for it to work. You can also provide several types and thicknesses of paper and have children choose and experiment with the different papers.

Thanksgiving STEM Challenge for Kids Set Up

Print the activity card and either post at the table children will do the activity, or give to children to do the challenge.

The page with the images of food also needs to be printed. Once printed, cut out each food dish so that you have nine squares with an image of food on each.

holiday printable shows nine images of holiday food.

Once cut out, attach each image to a coin or other weight. You can also choose to attach different weights. Some of the food can be attached to a dime for a low weight, and other food could be attached to something heavier, like a wooden block. Its’ up to you what weight you want to make each food.

Thanksgiving STEM activity shows coins glued to the bottom of food clipart.

Once you have prepared the foods, you’re ready to begin the challenge!

The Challenge

With most STEM challenges, there is a lot of freedom to create. Each child may come up with different solutions. Often children will come up with ideas that are very creative and their imagination is wonderful to see. Avoid giving too much direction when sharing the activity to allow children this freedom.

The challenge for this STEM activity is to, “Use the materials to create a table that can hold the Thanksgiving food.”

Thanksgiving STEM challenge shows an activity card that says, turkey table, use the materials to create a table that can hold the Thanksgiving food.

Children are only allowed one sheet of paper to create their table. (If you are working with really young children, you can provide as much paper as you wish.) Provide, scissors, one page and tape (if you choose to).

STEM Activity for Kids

Once you have shared the activity, it’s time for kids to start brainstorming and creating. With their one sheet, kids can start cutting, folding and attaching pieces so that the page begins to resemble a table.

thanksgiving activity shows a table made from paper with food clipart on top.

The main thing to look for with the table is that the top part is raised in some way, like a table.

Thanksgiving STEM challenge shows a table with accordion legs and food clip art beside it.

Children can create the legs in any way they can think of. Some children created accordion legs, others simply cut legs out of the paper. Depending on the design, any solution can work.

engineering project for kids shows a table made from paper bending in the middle with clipart of food.

Once each child or group, has created a table, it’s time to test the designs!

Testing Each Table

Children can test the tables as they create, or you can test once a design is complete. The testing part is a big component of every STEM challenge. Children are encouraged to test their design with the intention of then altering it to improve it. Some designs may work well after the first try, but there is always room for improvement.

Thanksgiving STEM challenge shows a paper table that collapsed with food clipart beside it.

Start by placing one of the food images onto the table. If it stays and doesn’t slide off, or collapse the table, then it is a great start. If it does slide, or break, children can alter their design to improve it. Perhaps adding more legs to the table to help balance it, or an edge around the table.

project for kids shows a child placing a clipart image on a table with an activity card beside it.

Remind children that they are limited to one sheet of paper. If their design doesn’t work they have to use scraps from their page or recreate their design from the beginning using a new sheet. If you don’t want to add this extra challenge, provide more paper and don’t put a limit.

When testing, if the first coin stays, continue adding coins until all nine coins are set, and secure on top of the table. If the table is able to hold the weight and balance the food, then the Thanksgiving STEM challenge for kids is a success!

You will likely find that each child comes up with a different solution, this is great and should be encouraged. There is not one single solution to each STEM challenge.

Skills Learned From this STEM Project

Although children will likely feel like they are playing during this STEM challenge, there is also a lot of learning happening.

Children will learn about how different materials can affect the strength of a creation. For example, if cardstock and regular printer paper are both provided, which works better and why?

This Thanksgiving STEM challenge for kids also encourages skills in physics with concepts such as force and balance when the coins are placed on the table. Does where you place the coins make a difference in how stable the table is? If you stack the coins, versus spreading them out, does it make a difference?

Thanksgiving STEM challenge shows a DIY table and cut out images of food and STEM activity card.

Children also learn about math with this STEM activity as they may create different shapes, such as triangles to make and stabilize their table. Does a triangular shaped table leg hold better than a straight leg? Does a cylinder work even better?

Children also need to consider size and maybe measure as they cut. They only have one page to work with so each part of the page needs to utilized.

holiday activity for kids shows a sheet of paper with images of food set on top.

Engineering is also involved in this project as children brainstorm, design and create. Structural engineering may also be touched upon as children test how different designs and folds to create their table.

Thanksgiving Project Extension Ideas

A few of the extension ideas have been mentioned above. Many of these ideas are simple ways to make the activity more or less challenging. Such as providing tape, thicker paper, or only one sheet of paper. Any of these small changes can alter the difficulty of your project.

Thanksgiving STEM challenge shows a table made from paper and food clipart images.

As a teacher, I love sending little projects home with children to experiment with over school breaks, such as Thanksgiving. You can put the paper, activity card and food images into a sealable bag. This way children can do the Thanksgiving STEM challenge for kids at home over the holidays.

holiday STEM shows a table made from paper and tape with clipart images on top.

Free Thanksgiving STEM Challenge Printables

Download the printable activity card and food images featured above. Subscribe to Play Learn Inspire through Grow and the resource will download right away. Once you subscribe you will also unlock all of the other freebies offered on Play Learn Inspire. Click the lock box/Click here image below.

free printable button shows two pages of printables for an activity.
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