Christmas Present Observations

We continue our countdown to Christmas for day 22 of Advent. I’m sharing a Christmas science idea with you at the beginning of each day until Christmas. Day 22’s activity is Christmas Present Observations.

Have you ever tried to guess what’s inside a present? How did you go about it? Did you shake the box? Did you use the size of the box to help you out? You were using observation skills and science reasoning skills in order to figure out what your present was. Use this concept and have your child practice observation skills in a fun way.

You’ll need:

boxes or opaque containers
objects to place inside the boxes
- Legos {they make a unique sound when you shake the box}
- jingle bells
- a rock or other object that will make a nice thud against the box
- a stuffed animal that may or may not make a sound when moved around in the box {you can feel how light it is compared to the rock box}
- other toys or games
wrapping paper {optional}

Place the objects in boxes or containers. For extra fun, you could wrap the boxes but it’s not really necessary. Just make sure the boxes are closed and your child won’t open them until you are ready to check the guesses.

You could give your child a list of objects and ask them to determine which object is in which box. Or you could just ask them to guess what’s inside the boxes without giving a list. Younger children will most likely benefit from a list.

Encourage children to use their different senses to guess what’s inside the box. Their sense of touch and their sense of hearing will be the most helpful to them along with their sense of sight {as far as the size and shape of the container}.

To practice even more science skills, you could measure or weigh the boxes. Then, compare them or sort them by size.

Other Christmas Themed Activities Using Our Senses

Practice using the sense of hearing with a Christmas Listening Game.
Use the sense of smell in a Christmas Scent Matching Game.
Use the sense of touch in a Christmas Mystery Bag Game.

I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 23’s Christmas science activity.

More Christmas Activities for Kids

Catch all of our Christmas Science Advent Calendar ideas.
Explore pine needles and Christmas trees and take our Christmas science challenge.
Turn your child’s art into a great Christmas project with these 15 Christmas ideas with children’s art.
Check out all of our Christmas ideas.

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