Author: Sandy Smith, Teravista Elementary TAG Specialist
Winter break is the perfect opportunity to nurture your child’s creativity and critical thinking while enjoying quality family time. For gifted and talented elementary students, this time off can be both fun and intellectually stimulating with the right activities. Here’s a list of engaging ideas, including helpful websites, your child can explore on their own or enjoy with the family.
Please note, it’s important to remember that not every moment needs to be a scheduled activity. Allowing kids to have downtime to rest and recharge is essential for their overall well-being and creativity.
- Family STEM Challenge: Build a Rube Goldberg Machine
Transform your living room into a creative engineering lab by designing a Rube Goldberg machine! Use household items like dominoes, toy cars, cardboard tubes, and string to create a chain reaction that performs a simple task (like flipping a light switch or popping a balloon). Challenge your child to incorporate at least five steps into the design. For inspiration and ideas, visit Wonderopolis, where they can learn more about Rube Goldberg machines and how they work! - Create a New Board Game
Gifted kids often love games—but what if they could make their own? Give your child some poster board, markers, and small objects for game pieces. Have them design the rules, objectives, and challenges for a unique board game. They can test it with family members or friends when it’s ready! - DIY Science Lab: Crystal Snowflakes
Using borax, water, and pipe cleaners, create dazzling crystal snowflakes! Start by twisting pipe cleaners into snowflake shapes, then submerge them in a borax solution and watch crystals form overnight. For step-by-step instructions and tips, visit Go Science Kids to make this fun STEM activity even more engaging! - Puzzle Marathon
Gather a variety of brainteasers, Sudoku, crossword puzzles, or jigsaw puzzles. Set a timer and challenge your child to complete as many as they can in an afternoon. For an added twist, create a family leaderboard to track progress. Check out Puzzle Baron for a wide selection of puzzles to keep the challenge fresh and exciting! - Start a Winter Journal
Encourage your child to document their winter break in a journal. You can even purchase them a special pen and notebook for this activity to make it extra exciting. They can include drawings, short stories, or reflections on daily activities.
Extension: Set daily prompts, such as “What was the most surprising thing you learned today?” or “Describe your perfect snow day.” - Map Your World
Provide your child with a blank map of the world or a specific region and challenge them to fill in countries, capitals, and landmarks. The website World Geography Games offers great information and interactive tools to support this project, making learning geography fun and engaging! - Create a Winter-Themed Stop-Motion Film
Using a phone or tablet, have your child create a stop-motion animation with winter toys, Legos, or craft supplies. They can write a script, build sets, and record their voices for added flair. Apps like Stop Motion Studio make it easy for kids to bring their creative ideas to life! - Design a Math Escape Room
Challenge your child to create an escape room game that uses math puzzles to unlock clues. They can design it on paper or set it up in a room for the family to try. Include riddles, equations, and geometry challenges! - Family Stargazing Adventure
Choose a clear winter night to explore the stars. Use a stargazing app or guide to identify constellations, planets, and celestial events like meteor showers. A great free website for kids is SkyMap Online, where they can explore the night sky, identify stars and constellations, and learn more about the universe in an interactive and kid-friendly way! - Build a “Cardboard City”
Using cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, and tape, have your child design and build an entire miniature city. Include roads, parks, skyscrapers, and even tiny vehicles. - Solo Science Experiment: Insulating Ice
Have your child explore how different materials insulate ice. Provide items like foil, cotton, plastic wrap, or bubble wrap. Challenge them to wrap ice cubes in each material and record how long it takes to melt. - Origami Winter Wonderland
Teach your child to fold winter-themed origami, such as snowflakes, penguins, or trees. Provide step-by-step guides or videos for inspiration. A great, free website for kids is Origami Way. It offers clear, easy-to-follow instructions with diagrams for a variety of origami projects, including seasonal ones like snowflakes and winter animals. - Create a Family Time Capsule
Gather items that represent your family’s life this winter, such as photos, letters, or
small mementos. Have your child write a “letter to the future” about their hopes and predictions. Seal everything in a box to open next year at the same time.
These activities balance fun, challenge, and learning while sparking creativity and fostering family connections. With these ideas, winter break will be anything but boring!