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!).

Next Plan Idea:

Pumpkin STEM Activities for Kids

Human brains are pretty amazing, allowing us to think, feel, create, communicate, move and more. But humans aren’t the only animals with cool brains, as Crab Museum explains in the book The No-Brainer Brain Explainer (illustrated by Bruno Valasse).

This book, aimed at kids in grades 1-4, is colorful and silly but also educational about how brains actually work, with billions of neurons sending electrical and chemical signals around the body.

“Everything we think, feel and experience comes from an electrical relay race, with neurons passing chemical batons to each other,” the book says. “The constant chatter of billions of brain cells creates your entire world.”

The book compares the brains of mammals to those of crabs (the book is “written” by a crab after all) and notes that crabs have fewer neurons and of course are much smaller, but they have separate parts of their brains that control their eyes and their legs. Crabs are also capable of remembering things, using tools and solving puzzles.

Some animals’ brains allow them to know more about their world in different ways from humans, such as spiders being sensitive to vibrations in their webs and catfish having an amazing sense of taste, with taste sensors all over their bodies.

It notes that 95 percent of brain activity goes toward things we do unconsciously, like breathing, walking and catching a ball flying toward us. It also talks about dreams, memory, how our emotions try to predict the future, where brains came from and fun facts about brains. For example, did you know a sperm whale is believed to have the biggest brain of any creature that’s even lived? Their brains weigh 18 pounds, compared to just 2.5 pounds for humans.

Information on what creatures have the smallest brains, the toughest brains, the most brains and those who actually eat their own brains will delight kids (and maybe gross them out a little bit). They’ll also enjoy learning about the mycelium network of fungi, which is like a brain without a body, and slime molds, which are like a brain without a brain.

It ends talking about why human brains are so special because we’ve found ways to work together, communicate and build communities on a scale bigger than any other animal.

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this colorful, silly and informational book about brains!

About the book: 64 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail price $19.99.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply