Turning December Chaos Into Hands‑On Science Kids Remember

December doesn’t have to be glitter storms and lost learning. We share a practical, story-driven way to turn holiday energy into real science with a Christmas-themed matter unit that keeps kids focused, curious, and proud of their work. Think stockings and balloons for inferring solids, liquids, and gases. Think hot cocoa tests that make temperature, dissolving, and fair experiment design click. The result is joyful rigor: standards met, mess managed, and students begging for “one more test.”

We start with the real problem—tired teachers, sugar-fueled classes, and lessons that feel cute but shallow. Then we map a simple structure that works: characters who pose questions, low to mid prep stations, clear roles, and data sheets that guide talk and writing. Randy Reindeer anchors states of matter with hidden items in balloons. Santa explores solubility and rate of change using cocoa and controlled temperatures. A snowman station tackles floating and sinking with familiar treats, gently introducing density concepts. An elf narrator nudges property observations—texture, size, weight, volume, and temperature—so students use accurate vocabulary while they explore.

To knit it together, we fold in short nonfiction reading and claim-evidence-reasoning writing, so science time stretches into ELA without breaking your schedule. Behavior improves because each station has a purpose, a reveal, and a shared goal; setup stays sane thanks to reusable stockings, simple supplies, and a ready-to-send family letter. You can run it all in a day or spread it across a week, and the format adapts to other units like force and motion with “sleigh tests,” keeping the seasonal spark while protecting content.

Want to try it without the heavy lift? Grab the free Randy Reindeer experiment at TrinaDeboriTeachingandLearning.com/ChristmasMatter, then decide if you want the full unit with anchor charts, prompts, and more labs in our TPT shop. If this approach helps, subscribe, share the episode with a teammate who needs a December win, and leave a quick review so more teachers can find it.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Free Randy Reindeer Explores Matter FREEBIE

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Seasonal Setup
• 1:46 December Stress And Classroom Realities
• 3:35 The Fire Story And Safety Mindset
• 6:59 Why December Science Can Work
• 9:12 The Matter Unit Origin Story
• 12:03 What’s Inside The Unit
• 16:11 Randy Reindeer Free Experiment

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Welcome to One Tired Teacher episode 272: How to Make Christmas Science Actually Magical, not just a mess. So today we're talking about how to incorporate Christmas into science. And let me tell you, it can be done, and it is one of my favorite things to do in teaching. Hope you stick around.

SPEAKER_00: 0:27

Welcome to One Tired Teacher. And even though she may need a nap, this teacher is ready to wake up and speak her truth about the trials and treasures of teaching. Here she is, wide awake. Wait, she's not asleep right now, is she? She is awake, right? Okay. From Trina Debori Teaching and Learning, your host, Trina Debori.

SPEAKER_01: 0:51

Hey, welcome back. All right. So we are talking about adding Christmas to like adding science into the Christmas season, or like actually teaching science and adding a little bit of Christmas into the into science. So raise your hand if it is December and or if it's ever been December for you and you've ever made you want to put glitter in a locked cabinet and science on the backburner. You're like, absolutely not. I'm so over all of this. Everything is commercialized to death. I'm so tired. The kids are out of control. I just want to pretend like it didn't exist. We're gonna just focus nonstop on reading, writing, and math. Okay. I've been there torn between trying to keep kids engaged and not setting the room on fire. So, or actual literal of fire. In fact, one year, I'm gonna tell this short story. One year when it was my last year in um before I resigned. Like my last year, I wasn't in a classroom, I was in a media center, and I was in a large Title I school. It was a very, it was actually a super hard job. Um, and the art teacher had put up some lights on his door in the classroom with using an extension cord, and I guess the extension cord was in between the crack of the door. Anyway, needless to say, it caught fire. And so we had a little fire in the school and we all were evacuated for hours because the fire department had to come. It wasn't not like a fire that broke into craziness, it was like a quick little blaze and they put it out. I mean, that's still super scary, but we were outside four hours. That was my very last day, and I was like sitting on the picnic table with a person that I had worked with for years who was the technology specialist in the district. She was she for years was at my old school that we I was at forever that I helped open. And um, and I was like, we were sitting there together, and I go, Well, this is kind of ironic that I'm walking away from a job that I've that's I've loved my whole entire life, and it's up in flames. So it just felt so crazy. Okay, anyway, so hopefully that doesn't happen to anyone. Be very careful with extension cords, but let's talk about like not a real literal side or fire, let's talk about a holiday science activity that will feel like you're setting a fire. Actually, no, it'll feel it's exciting. And the truth is, science in December can be magical, it just needs a little structure and a lot of meaning and no electrical cords. In today's episode, I'm going to share how I took one of the most sugar-fueled cra classroom chaotic times of the year and turned it into a calm and captivating science unit that still has kids talking and even learning. Kids love this unit, it is so fun. I actually created it for Halloween too, later after I had done it as Christmas because I thought it would be really cool as a Halloween thing as well. But that one, it it never like took off like the the I wanted to call it Holidays Matter because I thought that was so cute. And um, that never did really did well. It's finally when people understood that it we're going over matter, solids, liquids, and gases with a Christmas theme. They were like, oh, and it's so fun. You know, you can even skip your Christmas party and do this because it is so much fun, and kids absolutely love it. So the problem with December and fun lessons, it can be really hard sometimes. Like the holiday fun can feel like chaos and disguise, and if they often feel unstructured, there's like no academic value. We've got students bouncing off the walls, behavior problems are spaking, teachers are drowning and in a lot of prep and with little little payoff, and it's it's hard. And science, science gets left out because it sounds more like you know, like a lot more prep and a lot more mess and a lot more chance for disaster, but it doesn't have to be like that. So, what actually worked in my classroom? Let me tell you about the year that I was super exhausted, but I still wanted to end strong. I had a group of kids who were curious, they were energetic, and let's just say they were really enthusiastic about candy canes. So I was trying to wrap up by like wrap up my grading, finalize my report cards, and not collapse into a puddle before the end of the year. And also I didn't want to go into the Christmas season sick and drained for my own family. So that's when I wrote and created the Science Matter unit. And it's, I have to say, it's definitely one of my favorite things. And what I love the most about it is is it didn't just give kids something to do, it gave them a story, a purpose, a reason to observe, to infer, to write, to think, to read. Plus, they got to dress up in their scientist coats, which was one of my favorite things to do, and they really got down to business. Um, I had the I one year I didn't have the scientist coats, like those ended up being donated the next year, but I had um like white button-down shirts, and so we would use those as our science, our science coats, our lab coats, and kids absolutely loved it. When I got the real like lab, not the real lab coats, but like the thin, like you know, gauzy kind of lab coats, that was even better. So here's what is inside of this unit and why it is can be so powerful, and how you can actually adapt any kind of unit that you might be working on in science, and kind of like how you might add a science component in case you're like, I don't, I don't need, I'm not covering states of matter, or I don't need to cover that. Um I mean, if you're a second grade teacher, then you you probably do need to cover it, so that's just one thing to think about, you know. So and then sometimes we get stuck on pacing guides, which I think is why I created the the Halloween version, because it uh in the beginning matter was covered in December, and then we they changed it to October, and I'm like, no. But um sometimes you gotta just move those things around, you know, it's like that's should be more of a guide and not a everybody must follow this exact thing, but I won't get on that tangent. All right, so here's what's inside without spoiling any of the fun. So one of the activities, it's it definitely has all kinds of reading included nonfiction reading passages with questions, and they're not really passages, they're kind of written with with Christmas characters and um and some you know fun little visuals. There are questions to you know that are standards based, and then there's several different experiments. We've got Randy Reindeer who explores solids, liquids, and gases, which we're using balloons inside of stockings. And I'm gonna say this is not a no-prep activity, this is a low to mid-level prep. And when you sometimes when people hear that, they're like, I don't want anything that I have to prep. But I do give you a letter for parents that you can get everything donated. And actually, some of these supplies, you once you have them, like obviously not the Christmas like candy and cookies and stuff like that. Um, you're not gonna keep that forever. But you the stockings that you use are can be used over and over again, and that is and you can get those at like, you know, a dollar store or something like that for and sometimes you can find them if you for even cheaper than that. And it is well worth it. It's a unit that you're gonna want to do over and over again. I did it every year in my classroom, and it was a a hit every single time. It was totally worth it, which is why I think it's more fun than doing it in lieu of like an actual Christmas party, because in this case they're learning and they still get to eat Christmas goodies, and they're um they're reading, they're writing, they're doing science, they're inferring, they're experimenting. It's so fun. Anyway, so we've also got and also you they put the balloons inside the stocking, sorry, and they um they have to infer if it's a solid, liquid, or gas. They don't they don't know the they know that the balloon is in there, but there's something inside the balloon, and they have to make and that is one of my favorite things because they're like they're trying, you know, the solid is pretty easy. They they've got they reach their hand down in the stocking and they're feeling around and they're like, is it a solid, liquid, or gas? And they're like, a solid, and they're you know, gas, and and then the the gas is air, so then they get to like open up the stocking and open cut the balloon open and see what's inside. And every time it's it's air, they're like, it's air, and they're so excited, and it is so fun. It is so fun. I have recorded it several times, and I'm just like, I love how excited they are over air. Anyway, I have this is actually a free a freebie. I've taken that little fun um Randy Reindeer Explorer Solids, liquids, and gases. I've taken that little experiment out of the unit and I'm giving that away for free. So you can check it out. And if if it's something that you think is really fun and you want the whole unit, then you can come back and grab that Christmas um matter unit, and then you'll have the whole thing. But Randy Reindeer is a fun little thing. You can find it at Trina Deborah teachingandlearning.com forward slash Christmas Matter. All one word, Christmas Matter. Just put all the letters together. Christmas Matter. Um, I'll also drop that in the show notes. So you've got Santa investigates liquids and solids with hot chocolate chocolate, hot cocoa, and marbles. You've got the gingerbread girl runs a fair test using hot chocolate and three different temperatures. We've got Mr. Snowman tests with floats, it tests what floats and what sinks. So we got sinking and floating, which is a standard that we have to cover in milk, milk, and also we've got and like in cocoa, and they've got to think about like they're they're looking at MMs and marshmallows and you know, candy canes and things like that, like what floats, what sinks. And that's a really little interesting little floating and sinking activity. We're also looking at the changing states of matter when we're looking at like the cocoa mix mixing with milk, just regular warm temperature milk, or when we change it to hot milk or hot water, and what a difference that makes. So that's a really interesting thing for kids to see. We're looking at Emily the Elf, who leads in observing texture, size, weight, volume, and temperature. So we're looking at the different, you know, attributes, and that is with nonfiction texts, and and I've used Emily the Elf as a little character to tell the kids about it. And everything is tied back to real standards. And yes, there is some prep, like I said, but here's the here's the best part, and that is that I've included a pre-written letter for parents, and you just have to gather those supplies. It really, it really only takes a little bit of planning, and then you have got days of excitement, and you can do it in one day if you want, you can do it in several days because there is like different components and it's kind of broken up. It's broken up so that you can do science in a short amount of time, but also you can use parts of it in your reading block because it's nonfiction text, and then that's how you can kind of work it into a very packed schedule. That's just an idea. Why this isn't just cute science, this unit isn't fluff, it's grounded in real inquiry, and the kids are predicting outcomes, they're using senses to make observations, they're comparing physical properties, they're exploring how matter changes, and it's all wrapped up in a seasonal storyline that helps it feel fun, but actually teaches content that they will remember, and they will remember it because you made it feel relevant and because you used a season and their natural curiosity, and that is how kids remember things. Um, and it's story driven because I've reinforced the ELA standards, um, comp, you know, the comprehension, the vocabulary, and even writing about science. So where to start? The fur well, you can just grab that little freebie and just see if what you think, if you like it. And you're you're thinking, or maybe you're thinking, I'm so stretched, so thin, I can't do any of this, I can't gather supplies, I can't, yeah. Then maybe you just start with the free lesson and you just kind of test it out. And you need you do need three stockings per team, or maybe you could even just do one as a demonstration. I think it's so much more fun when the kids are like gathered around a team and they're like inferring together. And um, but you know, do what you gotta do. If you have to make it more simple, that's totally fine too. Um, again, you can find that at Trina Deborah Teachingandlearning.com forward slash Christmas matter. And if you want the full version with all of the elements, the anchor charts, the writing prompts, the um the ELA part, the X more experiments, then it's in my TPT shop at Trina Deborah Teaching and Learning. And you can do this with lots of different science things. If you are maybe working on force in motion and you want to add, you know, maybe there you're t Santa's testing his sleigh, and we are looking at pushing and pulling, and it's just really just incorporating parts of the holiday into science and making it really fun for kids. All right, so you don't have to abandon real learning to make December fun, and you don't have to choose between standards and smiles, and you can make science magical without chaos, and your kids will thank you for it, and you can thank your January self can thank you as well. Because there's also parts of this where you can kind of like, especially the reading and answering question part where you can kind of take a little bit of moment for yourself to gather like what you need, you know, as far as like I'm gonna answer an email really quickly, or I'm gonna, you know, do a little bit of grading, or I'm gonna actually get work done at work. All right. So grab the free sample from the Christmas Matter unit, explore the full unit on TPT. And if you want more ideas like this, check out my um make sure you're on my email list, Trina Deborah Teachingandlearning.com. Um, you can grab a little freebie to get on the email list. It's just a fun. And actually, if you grab the reindeer rain or Randy's reindeer, then then you're on the list. All right. Um, it's definitely one of my favorite things to hear when kids are like, I didn't know science could be so much fun. That is like, or feel like such a game. I've heard that before too. That is that's when you know that it's working. All right. So that wraps up this week's episode. Hopefully you are thinking, oh my goodness, how can I add Christmas to science? Because it can be so fun. Until next time, sweet dreams and sleep tight.