Math Activities for Kids

Thanksgiving Math Activities for Kids

November 10, 2022 By Terri Thompson

It’s time to combine some holiday fun with math when you play one of these awesome Thanksgiving math activities.

You’ll find fun printable games and other hands-on ideas to practice addition, telling time, fractions, and more. Sounds like so much fun, right?

So let’s get started!

Have some fun learning and practicing math with both printable math games and other hands-on Thanksgiving math activities for kids.

Whether you’re looking for a simple printable math game or a fun way to practice math facts, just click through each link to get to all these fun ideas.

I just know you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for here.

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Thanksgiving Math Activities

Fun Thanksgiving math games for kids to help them practice addition, multiplication, fractiions, and more.

Thanksgiving Addition Game: Add & Fill Turkey

Practice addition while you fill your turkey with this fun turkey addition game.

Pumpkin Pie Fractions Activity

Learn about fractions with this fun Thanksgiving twist to a classic activity.

Telling Time with a Turkey Clock

Practicing telling time can be so much fun with our fun paper plate turkey clock.

Build a Number Bond Turkey

Photo Credit: lifeovercs.com

Work on addition to ten with this fun felt number bond turkey.

Math Fact Families Turkeys

Photo Credit: www.notimeforflashcards.com

Practice any set of math facts with this fun Pin the Feathers on the Turkeys activity.

Racing Turkeys Number Line Game

Photo Credit: funlearningforkids.com

Race your turkeys along a number line with this fun number line game.

Turkey Feather Ten Frames

Photo Credit: www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com

Create turkeys out of ten frames with this fun Thanksgiving math game.

Thanksgiving SuDoKu Logic Games for Kids

Photo Credit: royalbaloo.com

Practice your logic skills with this printable turkey SoDoKu game.

Free Thanksgiving Addition Game – Turkey Trot Addition

Photo Credit: royalbaloo.com

Practice addition with this fun printable board game.

Roll a Turkey Math Facts Dice Game

Photo Credit: thisreadingmama.com

Practice math facts with this fun Roll a Turkey printable game.

Easy Thanksgiving Math With Addition & Subtraction

Photo Credit: www.3dinosaurs.com

Practice addition and subtraction with this fun printable Thanksgiving dinner mat.

"Build a Turkey" Number Sense Activity

Photo Credit: mathgeekmama.com

Develop your number sense with this fun printable Build a Turkey game.

No Prep Thanksgiving Multiplication Fact Practice

Photo Credit: royalbaloo.com

Practice your multiplication facts with this fun printable multiplication pack.

Which one of these fun Thanksgiving math activities are you going to try with your kids?

My Must-Have Math Resources:

Sometimes, as much as you want to prep a fun hands-on math activity, you just don’t have the time. That why I love having a few math games on hand.

Here are some great options. Your kids will have so much fun that they won’t realize how much they’re learning.

Fun Nonstandard Measurement Games

January 20, 2022 By Terri Thompson

It’s fun to explore measurement with some fun Nonstandard Measurement Games.

How many things can you measure? Measure a room, your foot, or even your full body.

This fun selection of measurement games are hands-on and engaging. They’re perfect for learning at home!

What is Nonstandard Measurement?

Nonstandard measurement is when you use an object, other than a ruler, to measure the length or width of an object.

So, let’s go have some fun and use our feet, our hands, our toys, or even straws to explore measurement.

Fun Nonstandard Measurement Games

Measure with hearts, handprints, LEGO Bricks, and more with these fun math activities.

Nonstandard Measurement Games

Explore measurement with these fun nonstandard measurement games for kids. These hands-on math activities with make learning fun for your kids.

Valentine Nonstandard Measurement Activity

This Valentine's Day activity uses heart doilies to measure different items. But you can adapt it for any holiday by cutting shapes out of paper. (For example, you can measure with shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day.)

Measuring with Kind Hands

Photo Credit: rainydaymum.co.uk

Make Kind Hands, which are your handprints labeled with acts of kindness, to measure just how tall you are.

Measuring with the Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

Photo Credit: inspirationlaboratories.com

Place one foot in front of the other to measure all sorts of items with this fun idea inspired by Dr. Seuss's The Foot Book.

Fun Body Measurement Activities with a Piece of String

Photo Credit: igamemom.com

Use a piece to string to measure and compare the length of different parts of your body.

Measuring With Straws

Photo Credit: lifeovercs.com

Paper straws are a great tool to use for nonstandard measurement. Use them to measure and record the lengths of different items.

Measuring Activity For Preschoolers

Photo Credit: littlebinsforlittlehands.com

Use small blocks, such as Unifix Cubes to measure your hands and feet.

Handprint Measuring and Number Lines

Photo Credit: theimaginationtree.com

Use cutouts of your handprint to measure and then make a fun handprint number line with this fun activity.

Measuring Length in Non-Standard Units with Candy Hearts

Photo Credit: jdaniel4smom.com

Use candy hearts as a measuring tool with this great activity. Includes fun printables to help you measure.

Space Nonstandard Measurement Activity

Photo Credit: www.totschooling.net

Use some fun space-themed measurement printables to explore nonstandard measurement.

Measuring with Magna-Tiles

Photo Credit: www.andnextcomesl.com

Do you have Magna-Tiles at home? They're a fun tool to use to explore measurement with this activity.

Preschool Math Lesson : Lego Measurement

Photo Credit: www.notimeforflashcards.com

How many LEGOs tall is your drinking glass? Use LEGOs to explore measurement all around the house.

How to Make Bean Rulers

Photo Credit: pocketofpreschool.com

Make your own ruler out of dry beans to use while you explore nonstandard measurement.

Which one of these fun ideas do you think you’ll try with your kids?

My Favorite Math Resources

We love using games to practice our math. It definitely makes learning fun. Here are some great ones you’ll love playing.

Subtraction with Manipulatives Math Activity

January 18, 2022 By Terri Thompson

I’ve spent a lot of time tutoring kids in the lower elementary grades. We’ve worked on math a lot.

Time after time, I’ve seen understanding click as soon as I introduced math manipulatives. And, you’ll see it click as soon as you introduce subtraction with manipulatives. Being able to physically touch and see your math problems makes math much more real.

Subtraction using buttons as manipulatives

Why You Should Use Math Manipulatives

Using math manipulatives is a great way to work on counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Your child’s fingers will work to move the items. Their eyes will see and make connections. Suddenly a math concept becomes much more clear.

Math manipulatives is a great hands-on way to learn math and understand the concepts.

And you don’t have to spend a lot of money to find these manipulatives. It can be as simple as pulling out the stockpile of buttons or emptying the change jar. You just need something small that you have a lot of.

How To Get Started With Subtraction Using Manipulatives

First, you’ll need some subtraction problems. Write them down on some index cards. You can write random problems or choose any group of subtraction facts that your child needs to work on.

Then, you’ll also need some math manipulatives. Choose something small like rocks, mini erasers, buttons, or even LEGO blocks. You just want to make sure you have enough loose parts to work each of your subtraction problems.

Subtraction With Loose Parts

Using loose parts helps a child easily see and better understand how subtraction works.

Start with the first number in your subtraction problem and count out that many items. Next, remove the amount of your second number in your math problem. Count up the remaining items and you have the answer to your subtraction problem.

Work through all your subtraction problems using your math manipulatives.

Other Way to Do Subtraction with Manipulatives:

*Use larger numbers. You don’t have to keep your subtraction problems under ten.

*When your child is more comfortable doing subtraction, have them find the answer in their head and then count out the correct number of loose parts for their answer.

*Use this method for doing subtraction on the go. Use rocks, sticks, acorns, or other natural items as your loose parts.

*Take this math activity outside and write your subtraction problems on the sidewalk with chalk. Have your child find the loose parts they need to solve each problem.

Subtraction with Manipulatives math activity

You’ll Love These Math Manipulatives

There is such a wealth of fine motor math manipulatives. Check out some of these options you can use for practicing math, subtraction, and more.

Pumpkin Pie Fractions Activity

November 3, 2021 By Terri Thompson

My nine-year-old learned about fractions with pizza. That’s such a yummy idea.

But now that Thanksgiving is coming soon, I needed to come up with another – but equally yummy – idea for fractions.

I thought round and I thought delicious. I thought pumpkin pie. Pumpkin Pie Fractions.

Yum.

Learn all about fractions with this fun Thanksgiving math activity - Pumpkin Pie Fractions. There are so many different ways to play with this math tool.

This Pumpkin Pie Fractions activity is so easy to create. Once you have it made, it will hold up for hours of hands-on math fun.

Supplies Needed:

4 paper plates
Orange craft paint
Light brown craft paint
Black permanent marker
Ruler
Scissors

How to make your pie fractions:

Start with the paint. Use your light brown paint to paint the ridged edges of your paper plates. This is your crust.

Next, paint the middle section of your paper plates with orange paint. Don’t worry about making sure your lines are straight. Remember, pies never look perfect!

Once your paint is dry, use your ruler to divide the pie into fractions. One pie will be divided into half. Divide the second pie into thirds, the third pie into fourths, and the fourth pie into eights. Trace your lines with your black permanent marker.

Label each of the pies with the corresponding fraction using your permanent marker.

Finally, cut each pie along the dividing lines.

Your pumpkin pies are ready!

How can you play with your Pumpkin Pie Fractions?

Use them as puzzles.

Give your kids a pile of mixed up pie pieces and have them put each pie together. They’ll have to match the type of fraction and then make a whole pie. This is a great way to easily see how many of each fraction makes a whole.

Make equal pie wedges (make equivalent fractions).

How many quarter pieces do you need to make a half piece. Use the bigger wedge as a guide to fill in with smaller pieces.

Make a mixed up fraction pie.

Can you make a whole pie using different sized fractions? Let you kids experiment to find different combinations.

Build other fractions with your pie pieces.

Make a 3/8 wedge by putting together three 1/8 wedges. Or make 3/4 with three of the quarter pieces. What other sizes can you make?

Let their homework be the guide.

What is your child working on in class? Use your pie as a hands-on tool to supplement their learning at home. If you need more pie sizes (maybe divided into fifths, sixths, or sevenths), just grab a few more paper plates.

Let your kids lead the way.

My girls set up a pie shop and sold all their different wedges. They had no idea how much they were learning along the way! I just sat back and let them have some fun.

How would you use these Pumpkin Pie Fractions?

More Thanksgiving Activities to Try:

Tell Time with a Turkey Clock

12 Turkey Crafts for Thanksgiving

Printable Thanksgiving Word Searches for Kids

Thanksgiving Math Activities for Kids

Turkey Craft using Pattern Block Shapes at Buggy & Buddy

Learn all about fractions with this fun Thanksgiving math activity - Pumpkin Pin Fractions. There are so many different ways to play with this math tool.

My Must-Have Math Resources:

Sometimes, as much as you want to prep a fun hands-on math activity, you just don’t have the time. That why I love having a few math games on hand.

Here are some great options. Your kids will have so much fun that they won’t realize how much they’re learning.

Addition War Card Game

April 5, 2021 By Terri Thompson

One of my favorite tools for practicing math with my kids is a simple deck of playing cards. There are so many fun things you can do!

You can count, compare numbers, subtract, or even multiply.

Today, we’re going to practice our addition skills with a few fun games of Addition War.

Practice addition with a buddy when you play this easy addition card game, Addition War. It's such a fun way to practice math!

There are so many other fun ways to practice math with playing cards, For example, you can start with the basics, like this greater than or less than activity.

Or, you can practice harder math like this 3-digit addition activity.

How to set up your game of Addition War

You will need two people to play Addition War, no more and no less, and a deck of playing cards. Play with a friend or play with a parent.

Before beginning, you will want to pull all the jokers, jacks, queens, and kings from the deck.

Shuffle the cards and deal the entire deck to both players. Each player should have an equal amount of cards.

Now, it’s time to play.

How to play this addition card game

This game is similar to the classic card game War, but with a few twists. I’ve simplified the rules and incorporated addition into the game.

To start each player will turn over the top two cards in their stack and lay them side by side. Then, each player will add their two cards together.

The player with the largest sum gets all four cards. Put them in a discard pile. Each player will have their own discard pile.

Keep playing until the two piles of cards are gone.

After all the cards have been played, each player will count the cards in their discard pile. The player with the most cards wins.

What if the sums of both players cards are equal?

If the players’ cards are equal, leave them on the table and turn over the next two cards in the stacks and lay them on top of the first pair of cards.

The player who has the highest sum of their top two cards will take all eight of the cards.

Fun variations of Addition War

You can make the game a little harder by leaving the kings, queens, and jacks in the deck. When adding your cards together, each jack would equal 11, queens are 12, and kings are 13.

If you’re working on adding more than 2 numbers together, each player can turn over 3, 4, or even 5 cards at a time. The game will go quicker, but it will still be fun.

Finally, you can also play this game using multiplication. Instead of adding the two cards together, multiply them!

Our favorite math resources:

When we practice math at home, we love to play games! If you want a few more games other than your playing cards, here are some I recommend:

Math Activities for Kids

You may also like one of these Thanksgiving Activities:

My Must-Have Math Resources:

What is Nonstandard Measurement?

Fun Nonstandard Measurement Games

You may also like one of these fun math activities:

My Favorite Math Resources

Why You Should Use Math Manipulatives

How To Get Started With Subtraction Using Manipulatives

Subtraction With Loose Parts

Other Way to Do Subtraction with Manipulatives:

You May Also Like One of These Math Activities:

You’ll Love These Math Manipulatives

Supplies Needed:

How to make your pie fractions:

How can you play with your Pumpkin Pie Fractions?

Use them as puzzles.

Make equal pie wedges (make equivalent fractions).

Make a mixed up fraction pie.

Build other fractions with your pie pieces.

Let their homework be the guide.

Let your kids lead the way.

More Thanksgiving Activities to Try:

My Must-Have Math Resources:

How to set up your game of Addition War

How to play this addition card game

What if the sums of both players cards are equal?

Fun variations of Addition War

You may also like one of these fun math activities:

Our favorite math resources:

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