Thanksgiving Math Activities

Thanksgiving is a holiday that naturally provides opportunities to talk about math, both because it’s a food holiday generally and because there is usually pie, and we all love delicious fractions. Check out these Thanksgiving math activities to get ready for the holiday with a side of learning.

As you might imagine, a lot of these activities do, in fact, have a pie theme. Like the pumpkin pie number sense printables from 123 Homeshool 4 Me, which show the numeral, the number on a domino, in stick form (for counting tick marks) and that number of pumpkins. Give the child a couple of numbers at a time and have them find all the pieces of the pie with the same number represented.

Or try the pumpkin pie count and trace activity from Preschool Play and Learn. This one has printable pie pieces with the word for a number the kids can trace. Use cotton balls as whipped cream or marshmallows on top to count out the number, or use other counters you have on hand.

And of course there’s the classic paper plate pie fraction activity, like this one from Creative Family Fun. Here the plates are painted to look like pumpkin pie but you can decorate them however you like.

Roll and count to add turkey feathers to the turkey with this activity from Fun a Day. You’ll need to do a little prep work but it’s really cute and a fun way to practice counting.

Kindergarten Worksheets and Games has some really cute color by addition coloring pages for kids who are ready for basic math.

Playdough to Plato’s Thanksgiving math activity includes printable coins kids can use to “buy” the ingredients for their meal, and you can also use them to work on adding two-digit numbers (if only a turkey were really 17 cents!).

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Pumpkin STEM Activities for Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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