These are a few of my favorite fun Thanksgiving math activities to use in middle school this time of year. There are so many different ways to incorporate a little holiday fun into your classroom. Plus, your students will be impressed that you took the time to get creative! These are great to do the week before Thanksgiving break. And if you teach up until the day before Thanksgiving day, you will need all the activities in this blog post!
Have you heard that saying, “What you appreciate, appreciates?” Well, it’s so true! I mean it makes sense right?
If I spend hours in the kitchen making a meal for my family, I expect some sort of appreciation! If I hear “This is delicious!” – naturally, I’m more inclined to cook more often. Alternatively, if no appreciation is shown, I will avoid cooking again!
Well, this is also true in our classrooms. When my students enjoy something, I do more of it!
One of those things is Ghosts in the Graveyard. They loved it so much, I said well heck! We need to do this once a month! The best thing about playing the same game is that you won’t have to spend too much time explaining the rules of how it’s played.
So during November, we play Turkeys in the Oven, a super fun Thanksgiving activity which is a fun way to review any skills, you can check it out along with other holiday game boards here!
1. Pumpkin Spice Latte Bulletin Board – Students will decorate their latte cups and then it becomes decoration! Last year, I had them all create percent proportion problems and write their answers. You could use this for any subject. Maybe try giving each student a question instead of having them make their own.
2. Fall Coloring Page Template – Make your own coloring activity with a template or grab this one for evaluating expressions. With the template, you just plug in 10 problems and answers. This is great for sub plans and early-finishers.
3. Thanksgiving Pack of Activities – Activity packs are my favorite! These Thanksgiving worksheets are a great way to fill any free time in class. Students will do a crossword puzzle and word search that feature Thanksgiving dinner side dishes. They will also get to write 5 things they are thankful for on a Thankful Turkey.
4. Thanksgiving Order of Operations – This order of operations with a Thanksgiving theme activity would make a great addition to a day of math stations.
5. Thanksgiving Dinner Percent of Change – Students will be calculating the percent of decrease and increase of typical Thanksgiving feast items.
6. Thanksgiving Self-Checking Pixel Art Activities – Thanksgiving math worksheets are an easy way to incorporate a variety of math skills including Thanksgiving word problems! Plus, you won’t have to do any grading! I have them available for the following skills:
7. Thanksgiving Meal Recipe – Have students bring in their favorite Thanksgiving recipe. Use them to scale the recipe up and down. When they are done, have them share their recipes or create a class cookbook. This would be great to do in Canva!
8. Thanksgiving Budget – Have students plan their own Thanksgiving dinner where they will need to stick to a budget!
Bonus tip: the easiest way to incorporate a Thanksgiving theme into your math lessons is with Thanksgiving clipart like pumpkins, cornucopia, pumpkin pie, turkeys, and corn. Be sure to be culturally responsive by avoiding Pilgrims and Native Americans.
I hope these ideas make your math block a little easier this holiday season.
Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!
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I started The Sassy Math Teacher in 2020 to help teachers like you increase classroom engagement and teach with confidence!
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