Ice Hockey Winter Olympic Games STEM Challenge

Bring the excitement of the Winter Games into your classroom with this ice hockey Winter Games STEM challenge.

In this high-engagement ice hockey STEM activity, students design and build their own hockey goal and stick, then test their creations in a mini “tournament” using a foil-wrapped puck.

Perfect for January/February STEM lessons, Winter Olympics units, or science centers, this hands-on challenge reinforces forces and motion, fair testing, and the engineering design process.

What Students Do

• Learn key ice hockey vocabulary such as puck, stick, goal, and goalie with kid-friendly picture cards.
• Explore How Ice Hockey Works using a simple visual poster and informational text.
• Engineer a hockey net and stick using only the provided materials (bendy straws, yarn, tape, popsicle sticks, etc.).
• Test their designs by shooting a foil-wrapped washer or penny “puck” into the net, making sure it scores without passing all the way through the goal.
• Play a modified game of hockey, keeping score and comparing results across teams to discuss strategy and design improvements.
• Reflect on their learning and write about what they know about ice hockey, using structured response pages.

What’s Included

• Teacher instructions with materials list, setup tips, and game directions (including how to create and use the puck).
• Full-color and blackline Engineering Design Process posters and question prompts (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, Improve, Share).
• Makerspace consumables list to help stock your STEM cart or lab with easy-to-find supplies.
• Vocabulary cards, How Ice Hockey Works posters, and an informational passage titled “What is Ice Hockey?” with comprehension questions.
• Student challenge letter that sets the scene: students are helping prepare hockey gear for a winter competition.
• Planning and recording pages for the Ice Hockey Winter Games challenge, plus “What I Know About Ice Hockey” writing pages with different line formats.
• Printable hockey player/goalie pieces and score sheets to support gameplay and data collection.