Last Minute Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Sometimes I don’t get my act together in time to pull off the fabulous crafts that other teachers do. So here’s a collection of easy last-minute Thanksgiving crafts you can do with your class (or any kids):

Paper plate turkey! Click here for directions.

Paper loop turkey! Click here for directions.

But what if you’re tired of doing turkey this and turkey that. I hear you, my friend!
Try these non-turkey crafts:

How about a cute popsicle stick scarecrow? Click here for directions.

I absolutely loved this one! The Mayflower often gets forgotten among Thanksgiving crafts but this hand print Mayflower craft is too cute and too easy NOT to do! Get directions here.

Make a thankful leaf wreath (say that 3 times fast!).
Sorry, no directions available, but here’s where I found the photo.

Have any other ideas that need to be shared? Let me know! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Equivalent Percents & Decimals

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Thanksgiving equivalents STICKER Converting percents and decimals is easy as PIE… especially around Thanksgiving! But seriously, practice makes perfect. For me as a young student, this was just something that eventually clicked one day; the more practice, the better. Here’s a page of practice with equivalent percents and decimals with a Thanksgiving theme.

Click here to download the page: Thanksgiving Pie Number Matching – decimal percent 2

What’s My Equation? Array Math Puzzles

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s a simple idea that one reader submitted. Cut out a bunch of paper fall leaves (or any seasonal shape, like snowflakes for winter, hearts for Valentine’s Day, etc.) and laminate them. Then attach a magnet to the back.

Then put an array up on your white board. Ask your students what equation is depicted. There will be more than one way to write the equation.

Then discuss the answers as a class. For younger grades, the answer could be “4+4+4 = 12″ or +3+3+3+3=12”, but for upper grades the answer could also include “4×3=12” or “3×4=12”.This would make a great warm up for math lessons. Have any great ideas for building number sense? Send them to me at squareheadteachers at gmail dot com. 🙂

Thanksgiving Number Match

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Thanksgiving number matching STICKER Still working on matching numerals with word form numbers? Check out this simple page for kindergarten or first grade. Students write the numerals in the pie with the matching word form number. Enjoy!

Click here to download: Thanksgiving Pie Number Matching – younger grades

Tangrams Turkey (Pattern Blocks)

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

I was TOTALLY inspired by this picture:

(photo source)

Yes, it’s an adorable paper Thanksgiving craft. But it could be SO MUCH MORE! Imagine doing this with your 5th or 6th graders. You first tell them to make a turkey, using any shapes.

Then after they’re done putting the shapes together (and BEFORE they glue on the turkey’s body), they have to figure out all the math characteristics of their project. Including:

number of triangles, rectangles, squares, trapezoids, etc.
Number of vertices, edges, etc.
acute, obtuse and right angles
And the list goes on!

Anyway, I thought this would be a cool way to merge math and art. Know of any other great Thanksgiving crafts or activities for kids? Let me know!

Thanksgiving Word Sort

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Here’s another freebie for you (since I’m all about free!). This parts of speech worksheet can be modified for upper grades, by designating one of the “noun” sail sections as a proper noun section. That way, older kids have four categories rather than the standard three. Enjoy!

Click here for the free PDF: Thanksgiving Parts of Speech Sort

Thanksgiving Parts of Speech Sort STICKER

Thanksgiving Game Board

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

More game boards! I’ve decided you can’t ever have too many blank game boards in your classroom to use with review games (click here to read about some of my favorites). This one’s Thanksgiving themed, and would be perfect to use with math facts, spelling words, etc. They’re actually really simple to use: for example, hand 2 kids a game board (it’s best if you laminate them first) and a die. Kids can roll the die and earn that many spaces if they get a math fact right (just hand them a stack of flash cards) or if they correctly spell a word on their weekly spelling list. Enjoy!

Click here for the free printable PDF: Thanksgiving Game board 1

Thanksgiving Memories Writing Project for Kids

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Squarehead Teachers

Story telling seems to go hand in hand with childhood. I absolutely love hearing kids tell stories. So I provided each of my students with an opportunity to tell me a story about a Thanksgiving they’ve experienced. After we write our stories down, I randomly draw a few student numbers (mine are on Popsicle sticks) and those students have the chance to share their story with the class (under the document camera) if they want. Here are the 2 versions of the free PDF worksheet (one with a picture space, and one without):

Thanksgiving Memories – draw own picture
Thanksgiving Memories – with picture