Thanksgiving Activities for Upper Elementary Math

Engaging Thanksgiving activities for your upper elementary math classroom can be challenging. First of all, the week is awkward, with most schools taking Wednesday through Friday off for the holiday. That means you have to find something that will be beneficial with one or two days of instruction.  Second, some of your students may be missing school to travel. This means it would be a good idea not to introduce new material making review your best bet. Finally, students are distracted by the short week, so it’s a challenge to keep them focused.

Here are some fun Thanksgiving activities that will make those days go smoother in your upper elementary math classroom.

1. Project-Based Learning

Project based learning is great because it satisfies all three criteria for an engaging Thanksgiving activity.  Most projects have 2-3 days’ worth of work, and you can even taper that depending on the activities that you want to use with your students.  Use some or all of the activities depending on how much time you have. Also, choose math topics your students need to review, like multiplication, decimals, or fractions, so students who are out of school won’t miss learning new material. 

This Thanksgiving project has students planning a Thanksgiving dinner based on a given budget. They get to pick their favorite side dishes and create their own Thanksgiving Dinner. Having something holiday-themed will keep them engaged and focused. 

2. Math Centers with Worksheets Thanksgiving Activities for Upper Elementary Math

Math centers are always fun because the students get to move around the room to different centers to complete different tasks.  Using differentiated worksheets is helpful because students can start with the easiest (level 1), then work their way through more challenging questions (levels 2 and 3) then finish with the most challenging word problems.  Using a Thanksgiving theme will get them in the holiday spirit and make the math review more interesting.  Math centers with worksheets are also great for sub plans if you know you will have to miss those days leading up to Thanksgiving break.

3. Math Centers with Task Cards

Task cards are fun because students work on one question at a time while moving around the room.  You can have them work individually or with partners. Use task cards as a “Roam the Room” activity where you place task cards all over the room, and they have to search for each question before they answer it.  Or, you can play scoot, where you place a task card on each student’s desk, and students “scoot” from one desk to the next as they answer the question.  Finally, you could set up centers where students answer 3-5 task cards at each center.  There are so many options with task cards.

If you want to create your own task cards OR have your students make task cards, you could use these Thanksgiving Editable Labels to create your own custom task cards for your class.

4. Digital Games with the Whole Class Thanksgiving Activities for Upper Elementary Math

My classes always enjoyed a good game of Jeopardy.  They get to work in teams which takes some of the pressure off for kids who may be over-excited or worn out with the upcoming holiday.  They learn how to work together, and they usually have so much fun that they forget they’re practicing math.  If you use an editable game like this one, you can play the game on day 1 and then ask teams to write new questions to create a second game for day 2.  Find some easy prizes like mini erasers for the team that wins, and they have additional motivation.

5. Digital Resources for Individuals

Digital resources like Boom cards are great if your students need a little downtime after other Thanksgiving activities.  It’s a quiet activity that can be used individually or with a partner.  Students work at their own pace, and all the questions are self-correcting, so they can immediately learn from their mistakes.  Students also love how interactive the questions are. It’s also a big time saver for teachers because the grading is automatically done for you, and you can track student data. And it’s a great way for students to use technology in the classroom.

If you’ve never tried Boom cards before, download some free boom cards first to see how they would work in your classroom. You can also make your own Boom cards to use in your classroom, sell on TpT and also sell on the Boom Learning website.

I hope you found these suggestions helpful as you plan your Thanksgiving activities for your upper elementary math classroom.

Click here to check out ALL my Thanksgiving resources for upper elementary math.