Systems thinking encompasses a set of skills for understanding, analyzing, and working with systems consisting of multiple interconnected elements and exhibiting emergent properties. Such systems are all around us, and helping students to develop such skills is central to equipping them to tackle professional and societal challenges. While the implementation of systems thinking approaches in education is increasingly widespread in disciplines such as biology, engineering, and geosciences, it is as yet not widespread in chemistry. This article aims to identify challenges in chemistry education that could be turned into opportunities for introducing concepts relevant to systems and systems thinking, so that students improve their conceptual understanding of chemistry at the same time as they develop their systems thinking skills. Suggestions and examples of possible productive pedagogical approaches are also outlined and discussed.