School Sparks - Kindergarten Readiness

Make math fun with Thanksgiving math worksheets

Math can be a challenging subject for young children. Many areas of a kindergarten math curriculum require analytical thinking and a strong understanding of numbers and the amounts they represent. For this reason, any time you can add fun and excitement to a math program, it will encourage your child to further engage in the activity which enhances learning.

Thanksgiving math worksheets are a great opportunity to spice up your child’s regular math curriculum and help him get excited about practicing important math skills. Each worksheet includes colorful pictures that will attract your child’s attention and help him focus on the underlying math concepts being practiced on these Thanksgiving math worksheets.

Tips for using these Thanksgiving math worksheets

I suggest beginning with the Thanksgiving counting worksheets. These worksheets will give your child an opportunity to familiarize himself with the Thanksgiving images and will also practice the important kindergarten math skill of accurately counting a group of up to 10 items. As you complete these worksheets, you can also take a moment to discuss the pictures with your child, perhaps explaining the relationship between Pilgrims and Native Americans or discussing the symbolism of an overflowing cornucopia.

Once your child is comfortable with the Thanksgiving pictures and can confidently count to 10, you can move on to the graphing worksheets. As you complete the Thanksgiving graphing worksheets with your child, be sure to ask leading questions such as, “Are there more pumpkins than turkeys or more turkeys than pumpkins?”

When your child has completed each of the Thanksgiving counting worksheets and Thanksgiving graphing worksheets, you can introduce him to the Thanksgiving patterning or sorting worksheets. Each of these worksheets use the familiar Thanksgiving pictures but practice important kindergarten math skills.

Extra activities to supplement these Thanksgiving math worksheets

• As you set the table for the Thanksgiving meal, have your child guess how many people are coming over by counting the number of chairs set up around the table.
• Before the meal begins, ask your child to count how many different types of food are the table. When dessert comes, he can count how many different pies and sweets you have.
• During the Thanksgiving meal, ask your child to count how many men and women are at the table. Then, ask him to count how many adults and children there are.
• Give your child a blank bar graph template and ask him to create a graph documenting all the people at the table. You can create four columns to track the number of men, women, boys and girls.
• Create a pictograph of the colors of the food on the Thanksgiving table using small colored stickers. For example, cranberry sauce adds a sticker to the red column and turkey adds one sticker to the brown column.
• Before you set the table, let your child create patterns with the different silverware you will be using. With a large collection of forks, spoons and knives, he can create many different patterns.
• Print two of the Thanksgiving sorting worksheet. Once your child has completed it by sorting the pictures, challenge him to sort the same pictures according to a different scheme on the second worksheet.