LEGO STEM holiday building

LEGOs are one of my favorite STEM toys of all time! Why not try some free builds for the holidays?

Hopefully you have a bin of mixed LEGOs handy. If not, try to get them secondhand or ask for donations from your community, and wash them in soapy water a few times before using. It is always good practice to have your students wash their hands before building with LEGOs, and again when they are done.

I find it’s a lot of fun to just have a free build instead of following build instructions. Let your kids show what they associate with the holidays. Is it snowmen and chimneys, or trees and ornaments? Is it an angel or a Santa Claus hat? You may be surprised at the variety of creations they think up! You could even have them build one LEGO creation each day as part of a LEGO advent calendar. If your kids need some ideas to springboard off of or struggle with the idea of free building, you can print some of these LEGO Christmas instructions.

LEGO Christmas Build Ideas

Structures and Buildings: Christmas tree, fireplace, chimney, toy factory, gingerbread house

People and Animals: Santa or Mrs. Claus, elf, snowman, reindeer, penguin, gingerbread man

Objects: Sleigh, gift, Christmas light strand, wreath, ornament, train, candy cane, Christmas cookies

What makes this a STEM activity, though, is the free build part of it. They will follow the Engineering Design Process (without even realizing it):

ASK

Which LEGO Christmas object do I want to build?

IMAGINE

Which color LEGOs will I need? Will I need specific sizes or any special pieces? Is the object I want to make symmetric (do I need to get 2 of each piece)? Do I need a base? (A base plate can be handy to build a flat design if 3D designs are too challenging.)

PLAN

This is the step where it’s important to think about where pieces will need to go, and whether or not they will be adequately held together by using overlapping brick techniques, etc.

CREATE

This step will take the longest, as your kids build, take apart, build, repeat.

IMPROVE

Sometimes the first time a new creation is built, it doesn’t quite stay together. Sometimes it does, but maybe a few decorative touches can be added. My son added an angel on top of his Christmas tree below after his original tree creation. The snowman’s original arms made him look more like the abominable snowman than good old Frosty, so those were switched out for a small lever piece instead. That fire in the fireplace? It was an afterthought. This step tends to bring out the final touches that really make the piece special.

Here is a close up of some of the designs my kids created:

LEGO presents are always fun to make too!

More LEGO Christmas ideas

One year I created a Minecraft LEGO Advent calendar for my kids, and they adored it! I mixed Minecraft elements and traditional Christmas designs. You can read about it here:

Just for little ones

If you have little ones that aren’t quite able to manipulate LEGOs yet but want to have some Chrismtas DUPLO fun, aren’t these the sweetest from I Can Teach my Child?

Another great way to use LEGOs at Christmastime, especially at home, is to make ornaments with them! Hang the creations on your tree for the season, and be sure to snap a picture. When the tree comes down, just remove the ornament and disassemble. Happy holidays, and I hope you enjoy these STEM activities for kids.