The holiday season is full of baking, evergreens, winter wildlife, and cozy traditions—making it the perfect time to bring STEM learning and agriculture together in fun, meaningful ways.
This guide features 10 holiday-themed activities inspired by lessons inside the Agriculture Unboxed Library. These aren’t brand-new lessons; they’re creative, seasonal twists on the resources you already use. In some cases, we simply change the recipe (like using cranberries instead of blueberries). In others, we take a concept—such as ruminant digestion—and explore it through a holiday lens (hello, reindeer!).
Each activity helps kids ages 9–14 explore agriculture, science, chemistry, engineering, nutrition, plant identification, and food systems through the magic of the holidays.
1. Bread in a Bag: Holiday Baking Science
Resource: Small Grains 101: Great Grains Unboxed
The bread-in-a-bag activity stays exactly as written—but during the holidays, it connects beautifully to the foods kids already see on the table. As they mix dough in a bag and watch yeast activate, they discover how wheat varieties influence flour, how gluten creates structure, and how fermentation makes bread rise.
It’s a hands-on way to explore the science behind holiday rolls, breads, and sweet treats.
2. Christmas Conifer Identification with a Dichotomous Key
Resource: Conifers 101: Christmas Conifers Unboxed
Not all Christmas trees are the same! Using the dichotomous key from our Conifer unit, kids examine needles, cones, and branch patterns to identify real evergreen species such as fir, spruce, pine, and cedar.
The lesson stays the same—only now kids apply it to the trees they see in homes, farms, and tree lots all season long.
3. Light-Up LED Christmas Canvas Tree
Resource: LED Circuit Art PDF
This festive engineering project uses our LED circuit lesson, simply applied to a holiday canvas or holiday card. Kids design a Christmas tree image, then use conductive tape, a coin battery, and small LEDs to make the lights glow.
It’s a playful introduction to electrical circuits, conductivity, and troubleshooting—all wrapped in holiday creativity.
4. Reindeer Nutrition: Applying Ruminant Science to Santa’s Team
Resource: Animal Science: Animal Nutrition 101
Our nutrition unit teaches how cattle, sheep, and goats (and other farm animals) digest food—but kids can easily apply these concepts to reindeer, since they are ruminants too.
Kids explore:
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how four-compartment stomachs work
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how microbes digest tough winter forage
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why fiber-rich diets create heat and energy
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how ruminants adapt to cold, snowy climates
It’s a fun way to connect real animal science to a classic holiday story.
5. Santa’s Milk Taste Test
Resource: Dairy Cattle: Milk Science
This activity follows our Milk Taste Test lesson, with one small seasonal twist—kids decide which milk Santa might prefer with his cookies.
As they compare whole, 2%, and skim milk, they learn how fat levels change sweetness, thickness, and flavor. A simple sensory test becomes a deeper understanding of dairy processing and food science.
6. Holiday Egg Experiments & Egg Structure Science
Resource: Eggsploration: Egg Parts & Formation
Your egg anatomy lesson stays the same, but the timing adds meaning—eggs are everywhere during holiday baking. Kids can:
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examine the strength of eggshells
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test whether an egg floats or sinks
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explore egg structure (yolk, albumen, membranes)
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link egg properties to baking recipes
Eggs become a bridge between poultry science and holiday kitchens.
7. Winter Wildlife Observation: Woodland Mammals in Snow
Resource: Eastern Woodland Mammals
This lesson requires no changes—just a seasonal setting. Kids use mammal ID cards to identify deer, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, raccoons, and other woodland mammals. In winter, tracks in snow make identification easier and more exciting.
They explore animal adaptations, habitats, diets, and winter survival strategies while connecting agriculture to the wildlife that shares the environment with farm animals.
8. Holiday Recipe Supply Chain Challenge
Resource: Exploring Agriculture: Farm to Table
This activity applies your Farm to Table lesson to a holiday recipe. Kids choose a favorite holiday food—cookies, dinner rolls, stuffing, cranberry sauce, hot chocolate—and trace each ingredient from:
FARM → PROCESSING → TRANSPORTATION → STORAGE → GROCERY STORE → KITCHEN
They learn:
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what agricultural products each ingredient comes from
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how foods are milled, pasteurized, dried, crushed, pressed, or packaged
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what STEM systems (refrigeration, trucking, storage) keep food safe
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which ingredient travels the farthest and why
It’s a perfect blend of food systems, geography, and holiday traditions.
9. Cranberry Chemistry: Using Cranberry Juice as a pH Indicator
Resource: Berry Good Unboxed
Our Berry unit introduces blueberry juice as a natural pH indicator—but cranberries contain the same anthocyanin pigments, making them an easy holiday substitution.
Kids test vinegar, baking soda solutions, lemon juice, soap, and more to watch cranberry juice shift from red to pink to purple. This experiment reinforces chemistry concepts using a food commonly found in holiday recipes.
10. Livestock Lifecycles: Holiday Edition
Resource: Farm Animal Lifecycles Series
The lifecycle lessons remain the same, but kids create their own festive version—such as a “12 Days of Livestock Lifecycles”.
They explore:
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birth
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growth
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development
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reproduction
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how each species contributes to food and fiber systems
A simple seasonal format helps reinforce core animal science concepts in a creative way.
Bringing STEM & Agriculture Into the Holiday Season
These holiday-themed activities show how easy it is to adapt existing Agriculture Unboxed lessons into festive, engaging hands-on learning. A simple ingredient swap, a themed example, or a seasonal question can transform everyday lessons into memorable holiday STEM experiences.
Whether kids are exploring the chemistry of cranberries, the engineering behind LED lights, the food journey behind holiday recipes, or the digestive systems of reindeer, they’re building deeper understanding of agriculture—and discovering how science shapes the world around them year-round.