Preschool and home-school teachers of toddler-age children find that time moves rapidly during the busy month of December. For many people, Christmas is the focus of the month. Capture the excitement of the season and teach your little learners at the same time. Offer Christmas science activities to youngsters that teach toddler-friendly lessons with a holiday twist.

Snow Science
Santa Claus lives in the snowy North Pole, so teach toddlers about the frozen white stuff with a hands-on lesson. If you live in a winter climate, pile snow in your classroom sensory table or in a shallow plastic tub. Let your toddlers touch the snow. Ask them to describe the way it feels. Ask questions about the snow. Is it cold or warm? Is it soft or rough? Does it make your hands feel wet or dry? Be careful that the children's hands do not become uncomfortably cold. Provide fluffy towels to warm and dry little hands that are finished exploring the snow.

Scent Science
Toddlers breathe in the familiar aromas of Christmas in a simple science lesson about the sense of smell. Place a gingerbread cookie, candy cane and fresh pine branch on a tray. Consider including a new roll of transparent tape--it is used to wrap presents and has a distinct smell. Show the toddlers each object and tell them about the item's role in Christmas celebrations. Let each child smell the objects. One at a time, ask the children to close their eyes while you hold the individual Christmas items under their noses so that they can sniff and name them.

Evergreen Science
Gather an assortment of evergreen boughs from trees that are commonly cut for Christmas trees. Place prickly Scotch Pine, soft Douglas Fir and flat Frasier Fir branches on a table along with pine cones from each tree. Ask a local Christmas tree seller to donate evergreen branches and pine cones to your science table during the Christmas season. Let toddlers feel the different branches. Point out the qualities of each bough's needles. Borrow books from the library that contain pictures of the trees and match the branches to the corresponding pictures. Explain that the branches came from real trees and talk to the children about the necessity of sunlight, water and soil for plant growth. Bring in a branch from an artificial Christmas tree and let the children examine it and compare it to the branches that came from living trees.