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

Holidays are a great time to pull in some themed STEM projects. Even kids who aren’t usually into science can get excited about making a reindeer fly or making a Christmas tree out of 3D shapes. Check out these fun Christmas STEM activities to try in your classroom or at home.

Speaking of making reindeer fly, there are lots of different takes on this engineering challenge. In the instructions from The Educator’s Spin on it, kids make a reindeer from recycled materials, then use a string to make it “fly.” You can also do this with a balloon, like in this version from Team Cartwright.

And that Christmas tree project? That one is from Steamsational, and it calls for making a bunch of 3D triangles you then assemble into a tree. The post includes all the tips you’ll need and a printable template for making the triangles.

Another cute idea from Steamsational is making Santa’s sleigh out of an egg carton. Give kids design challenges such as that Santa must stay in the sleigh, it should be able to move and pull weight. It’s so fun to see what kids come up with.

Science Sparks has a printable book full of Christmas-themed experiments with templates kids can cut out and use to make spinning sleighs, shadow puppets, a paper tube to test how much weight it can hold and more. These activities are really low prep beyond the printing, so they’re great when you need to fill a little time at home or at school.

If you have Legos and jingle bells you can make a simple engineering challenge by having kids build mazes that the bells can roll through. Get the details from Innovation Kids Lab. (And check out this fun book of Lego Christmas ornaments!)

Of course you can also put a Christmas spin on classic STEM activities, like making a baking soda volcano in a plastic or glass ball ornament (Little Bins for Little Hands), red and green magic milk (Fun Learning for Kids), Borax crystal ornaments (Go Science Kids) and more!

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