Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! As you are running around mad with preparations. . .maybe you want to squeeze in a little math? Here are ten math activities that will keep your students’ minds sharp.
1. Make Placemats–I admit this doesn’t have to be a math activity. But if you need something for your little ones to do while they’re at the kiddie table, consider making placemats. Print out some worksheets, games, even coloring pages. Laminate them (most teacher supply stores do this.) Voila–instant educational activity at the dinner table to keep little ones occupied.
2. Have your kids figure out how long the turkey needs to cook. For a more complicated problem, have them plan out when everything needs to go in the oven in order to come out done to perfection!
3. Include your kids in the preparations in the kitchen. Have them double recipes for guests and measure out ingredients. If you have time, consider making home made bread for the feast so that your kids can see yeast in action.
4. A Thanksgiving Day at our house is not complete without football. If you can’t beat them, join them and have your kids figure out how many yards the offense has to go to get a touch down. Too much math during the game? Use the teams’ home towns to talk about how many miles they’ve traveled.
5. Speaking of traveling, if you’re doing any over the holidays, have your kids figure out how many miles you have to go. If you’re doing the hosting, have your kids figure out how many miles your guests had to travel in order to arrive. For an extra challenge, change the miles into feet, inches, kilometers, meters, etc.
6. Chart the family. Think of any theme–for example, what type of dessert did everyone have. Ask questions about the chart such as, “What was the most popular dish served at this year’s dinner?”
7. Cut out an ad for groceries that includes lots of Thanksgiving food. Have make up word problems that go along with the ads. For example, young students might ask how much a can of cranberry sauce plus a bag of stuffing costs. Older students might include scenarios that account for number of guests or percentages off.
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