Hot Chocolate Science
Pour one bag of hot cocoa mix and 1/4 cup of baking soda into a mug. Then, slowly pour vinegar on top. Watch what happens! (Spoiler alert: a chocolate volcano!)
Snow Science
If you've got snow on the ground, bring some inside and experiment on it! KDEdventures has a great winter science experiment that shows kids how much water is in snow. You basically need to fill a mason jar with snow and use a marker or a rubber band to mark the snow line on the jar. Then, keep track of the time and measure how much snow is in the jar, say every hour. Make a prediction to see how long it will take for all the snow to melt and how much water there will be in the jar once all the snow has melted.
Snowstorm in a Bottle
There may not be that much science involved in this winter activity, but it is a fun one for the younger kids who will love watching the glitter swirl around. Fill an empty water bottle halfway with water, and then with the same amount of corn syrup. Dump in the glitter in silver (or whatever color you want), screw on the lid, and shake!
Alternately, you could follow this tutorial from Growing a Jeweled Rose to create a similar experiment with white paint, baby oil, water, glitter, and Alka Seltzer.
Marshmallow Polar Bear Den
I saw this idea on Teachers Pay Teachers, and you can download the complete activity pack for just $3! Essentially, kids use large marshmallows and toothpicks to build a home for a polar bear print-out or a small bear figure you might already have in the toy box. This winter STEM activity gets kids using critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Can they build a den that fits the bear?
Marshmallow Snowflakes
In the same vein as the Polar Bear Den, kids can use marshmallows and toothpicks to build snowflakes. Use a big marshmallow as the center of the snowflake, and then stick the toothpicks and mini marshmallows out from there. The website Carly and Adam suggests this activity alongside the picture book Snowflake Bentley, the first person to photograph snowflakes.
Symmetrical Snowflakes
Slightly older kids can make snowflakes out of cotton swabs and glue in this winter STEAM activity from Green Kid Crafts. Kids are encouraged to design a snowflake of cotton swabs where one side is the same as the other, aka "symmetrical". Once kids have figured out their snowflake design, they glue the cotton swabs onto blue construction paper. Let dry and display!
Baking Soda Snowballs
If you liked the chemical reaction made during Hot Chocolate Science, then you'll love making "snowballs" erupt with baking soda. This uses items you already have in your kitchen/pantry, but keep in mind that you'll need to let your snowballs dry for at least 12 hours. Wunder Mom has different ideas for experimenting with solutions of vinegar, water, and dish soap so you can see how differently the snowballs erupt.
Melting Snowman
Bust out your baking soda again for this melting snowman science activity from Little Bins for Little Hands. You'll also need water and vinegar, as well as glitter and other trinkets for decorating the snowman. Mix water and baking soda until it becomes a packable dough, sprinkle in some glitter, and then form into a circle. Press in beads or google eyes, and then freeze. When you're ready to melt, place the frozen snowman ball into a tray or pie pan and slowly pour vinegar on top.
Expanding Snowman
If you don't want your snowman to melt, how about expand? This winter science activity reminds me of a painting "fireworks" activity my daughter and I did over the summer. Basically, place snow (or ground-up ice cubes) into a zip-top plastic bag that you've decorated to look like a snowman face. Place two to three Alka-Seltzer tablets inside the bag, quickly zip it up, and wait to see what happens. Science Kiddo says it could take 30 to 60 minutes for the bag to get bigger and bigger. It might even pop! (In that case, you might want to do this activity outside or cover your floor with a towel/plastic tablecloth.)
Ice Fishing
Another fun experiment suggested by Little Bins for Little Hands is ice fishing. All you need is a glass, water, ice cubes, blue food coloring (optional), string, and salt. Place ice cubes and water in a glass. Lay a piece of string over an ice cube. Sprinkle salt over the string and wait for 30 to 60 seconds. Then, lift up the string. What happens? The salt makes the ice cube stick to the string!
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