4 Halloween STEM Activities
Halloween is one of my favorite times of year, especially in the classroom. With all the spooky excitement in the air, I like to capitalize on students’ positive energy and bring Halloween into our learning. One of the best areas to incorporate Halloween is STEM. Halloween STEM activities are perfect activities to get some hands on learning each week, or to use during classroom parties!
Activity 1: Building a Candy Pumpkin Catapult
Students will love designing and creating a candy pumpkin catapult. Students will practice engineering and display an understanding of forces while they create a catapult that can shoot a pumpkin the farthest.
Materials Needed
Popsicle sticks
Rubber bands
Spoons
Candy pumpkins
Scissors
Tape
Instructions
Present background information on catapults and trebuchets for students.
Introduce the challenge of building a catapult capable of throwing a candy pumpkin the farthest.
Pass out supplies to students.
Give students time to plan and build their catapult.
Test each catapult and lead students in a class reflection.
Benefits
Students get to practice the engineering process while collaborating with their classmates.
Activity 2: Creating an Animated Skeleton Hand
Overview
Allow students to get an up-close look at how our hand muscles work to move our hands. This step-by-step experience allows students to create a model skeleton hand that can be manipulated by pulling on different “muscle tendons”.
Materials Needed
Straws
Milkshake straws
Yarn/string
Construction paper
Tape
Glue
Scissors
Instructions
Pass out supplies to students.
Present the slide show to give proper background information and step-by-step directions for creating the skeleton hand.
Allow students to manipulate the hand and reflect on their work.
Benefits
Students will gain a better understanding of how our hand muscles work with this interactive activity.
Activity 3: Building a Spider Web
Overview
Are you smarter than a spider? Spiders are one of nature’s greatest engineers! Learn about spider webs and see if you can create one better than a spider!
Materials Needed
Yarn/String
Scissors
Tape
Plastic spiders
Instructions
Present background information on spiders and webs.
Introduce the challenge of building a spider web capable of catching the most spiders.
Pass out supplies to students.
Give students time to plan and build their web.
Test each web and lead students in a class reflection.
Benefits
Students get to practice the engineering process while collaborating with their classmates.
Activity 4: Engineering a Candy Pumpkin Tower
Overview
Since toddlerhood, everyone has loved attempting to build the tallest tower. Put a spooky spin on this classic by using candy pumpkins and toothpicks!
Materials Needed
Toothpicks
Candy Pumpkins
Instructions
Present background information on towers.
Introduce the challenge of building the tallest tower.
Pass out supplies to students.
Give students time to plan and build their tower.
Measure each tower and lead students in a class reflection.
Benefits
Students get to practice the engineering process while collaborating with their classmates.
Grab yours here!
STEM is such an important field for our students. The amount of STEM jobs that will be available to them in the future is growing daily. Give them a dose of Halloween and STEM fun with these awesome activities!
Make them yourself or save yourself some time by grabbing our bundle here! Each STEM activity comes with:
An inclusive slideshow that will walk your students through each step.
A student planning sheet
Teacher directions
Completion certificates for students.
You can even check out our STEM Mega Bundle that includes:
4 Halloween STEM challenges
4 Christmas STEM challenges
4 Valentines STEM challenges
4 St. Patrick’s Day STEM challenges
4 Easter STEM challenges
Don’t wait! Bring STEM into your classroom today!
