4-11 Advent Calendar-revealed 2023

Welcome to the Primary (4-11) Advent Calendar 

Each day a new door will be available for you to open, it will contain a little gift for you, it might be a digital resource, a free CPD course, a short video, competition or an opportunity for you or your school/class. 

You will need to be a member of the STEM Community to enter any competitions and join any discussions, scroll to the top of the page to join!

SC_Logo_Christmas_tree
How do sheep say Merry Christmas to each other? Fleece Navidad.

Enter our fabulous Christmas Wreath and Chemist-Tree Competition! 
Create a wreath from foraged materials (man made or natural) or create an awesome chemist-tree from glassware or other lab equipment/display material and submit it to the discussion thread here: https://community.stem.org.uk/discussion/chemist-tree-and-wreath-competition-2023

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite.

Check out this great Explorify resource on winter seeds

Put your class' observation skills to the test with these three seed-bearing plants. This activity is great for promoting observation and discussion skills.

Why are my jokes good for the environment?
They are all recycled! 

 

Like and share one of these social media posts for a chance to win one of 10 STEM Community notepads
Prize draw 8th Dec 2023
 
What do you call Santa when he stops moving? Santa Pause.

STEM COMMUNITY ADVENT CALENDAR EXCLUSIVE
20% OFF CPD COURSE BOOKINGS FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS

USE DISCOUNT CODE STEMADVENT20

(DISCOUNT CODE VALID UNTIL 23:59 ON 5TH DECEMBER)
Why was the Turkey the only part of the meal in a popgroup? Because he was the only one with drumsticks

Our friends at Discover Materials invite you to a live, online event that can be streamed live into classrooms in the run up to the Winter break.

Check out the schedule here: https://bit.ly/3sSrleX
Event date 12th Dec - posted today to allow time to plan!
:-D 

What goes “Oh, Oh, Oh”? Santa walking backwards!

Celebrate Christmas and STEM with this free 30-minute quiz! Your class will meet a STEM Ambassador who will introduce themselves and host a fun Christmas quiz on STEM skills and knowledge.

5-7YO (13/12/23): https://bit.ly/3uy07Lc
7-11YO(14/12/23): https://bit.ly/3uAPmYC
What do Santa’s little helpers learn at school? The elf-abet!

Check out this awesome Explorify art competition!
Winners will have their creations turned into an Explorify 'Start with art' activity/which will be seen by thousands of pupils
What chart topper is a favourite of the 3 wise men?  Myrrh-der on the dance floor

Thanks to our friends at Inventors and Makers you can recieve a FREE Engineering Mini Workshop

Discount code: stemadvent

What do you get if you cross Santa with a duck? A Christmas Quacker!

Explorify: Sparkly Brown

Take a much closer look at this familiar object. Can your class use their reasoning skills to work out what it is?

https://bit.ly/46Dpzwj

Who is Santa's favourite singer? Elf-is Presley

Our Partners at the Instution of Engineering and Technology have some fantastic fun craft ideas, recipes, projects, challenges, experiments and activities for teachers and families to do with young people in their SANTAS WORKSHOP!

How do you know when Santa's in the room? You can sense his presents.

How to make fantastic crystal-frosted Christmas decorations


Did you know you can make fantastic frosted decorations using a salt and water? Find out how in this fun festive experiment. 

Why wouldn't the cat climb the Christmas tree? It was afraid of the bark.

Enter the exciting ‘My CuriousCity 2050’
Students design their own CuriousCity. Challenge them to be creative as they can with their designs. What resources will their city use to generate electricity? How can they make it as green as possible?

https://bit.ly/47D31wP

What do you sing at a snowman's birthday party? Freeze a jolly good fellow!

Explorify activity: Hold on tight

Take a much closer look at this familiar object. Can your class use their reasoning skills to work out what it is? 



https://bit.ly/3R2ja7U
What do snowmen have for breakfast? Snowflakes.

Class activity on themes and variations. 
Designed to be used in an outdoor area where holly plants grow, this activity provides questions about holly leaves which children may investigate, for example, how many prickles on a holly leaf?
Why are Christmas trees bad at knitting? Because they always drop their needles.

Explorify: Snowflake
Spark a conversation with this video showing some amazing snowflakes. This activity is great for describing observations and applying ideas in unfamiliar contexts.

What do you get when you mix a Christmas tree and an iPad? A pine-apple!


Check out this awesome animation  from our friends at Tech She Can

 In this episode, Katie and Tex explore the world of AR (which stands for Augmented Reality).

https://bit.ly/3RkWktM

How many letters are there in the alphabet at Christmas? 25 (no-el).

Explore the concept of freeze thaw weathering.  Check out this great activity from our friends at the Institition of Civil Engineers

This problem affects anywhere on a structure that water can collect and freeze – from roads to
bridges and towers

What does a snowman do with a bag of carrots? Pick his nose.
STEM COMMUNITY ADVENT CALENDAR EXCLUSIVE
20% OFF CPD COURSE BOOKING UNTIL THE END OF TERM! (22nd DEC)

USE DISCOUNT CODE STEMCALENDAR20

(DISCOUNT CODE VALID UNTIL 23:59 ON 22nd DECEMBER)
Where do snowmen go to dance? A snowball. 

Christmas tree coding
An ideal plan for a Christmas themed coding lesson! This plan involves a Christmas tree that has sparkles lighting up as the baubles, but it is also possible to use other Christmas-related ideas (for example Christmas cards) that have the same code.

Which side of a turkey has the most feathers? The outside.

Make a snow globe
In this resource from the IET, pupils learn about materials, density and waterproofing, whilst creating their own Christmas snow globes from empty jam jars and biodegradable glitter. The resources provided include full lesson guidance and a presentation.
What’s the absolute best Christmas present? A broken drum — you can’t beat it!
(I'm so sorry, these are getting dire!)

Snow sparkle slime
This well structured resource from the IET provides a quick and efficient way of making slime, themed around Christmas snow.
Why don't polar bears eat penguins?  They can't get the wrappers off

Join the SAMHE project! Get a FREE air quality monitior for your school

The chance to be part of something bigger!
Taking part in SAMHE will give pupils the opportunity to contribute to genuine scientific research, working together with scientists and thousands of other school children. 

What is the weather going to be like this Christmas?  Looks like rein-deer

Join the Climate Detectives
ESERO-UK invites teachers and teams of students to team up and join the ESA Climate Detectives and Climate Detectives Kids school projects.
The ESA Climate Detectives Kids is a brand new challenge where teams of pupils complete activities. 
Why is Santa no longer climbing down sooty chimneys?
He’s reducing his carbon footprints.

Try these Christmas dinner table demonstrations
In this National STEM Learning Centre and Network video, we demonstrate four experiments, with the theme of Christmas.