Flying Snowmen and Santa Hats STEM Challenge

Make flying Santa hats or snowmen for a fun, festive STEM challenge! All you need is an empty milk container, paper and tape.

You’ll sometimes see this activity called a rocket mouse, as traditionally, the cone is made to look like a mouse.

You can theme the paper cones however you like. Reindeer cones would also work well for a Christmassy feel.

You’ll need

Paper or card

Felt tip pens

Scissors

Milk container

Tape

Instructions

Create a cone with the paper and tape.

Place the cone on top of the milk container.

Use both hands to squeeze the milk container and watch as the cone shoots up into the air!

Why does the cone shoot into the air?

When you squeeze the bottle, the air inside is forced out through the top. The force of the air against the rocket top sends it shooting upwards. The harder you push the sides of the bottle together, the greater the force of the air leaving the bottle and the higher the cone will go!

Investigations to try

How can you make your snowman cone fly higher?

How can you slow down the flight of your snowman?

Can you set up an investigation to find out what happens if you use a smaller container? Which conditions do you need to keep the same?

More Christmas STEM Challenges

Take a look at my 24 days of science-based elf ideas!

Build a new shelf for the elf, make a zip line to rescue an elf from a tree and lots more elf STEM challenges!

Help Santa find the North Star and make a raft for the reindeer with my Santa STEM challenges!

Last Updated on November 17, 2023 by Emma Vanstone