This Thanksgiving turkey craft is a cute, fun art project. But it’s also a wonderful lesson in math, as it is completely made up of 2D and 3D shapes! There are so many learning concepts in this little gobbler.
The hat is made up of squares and a rectangle, the eyes are circles, and the beak is a triangle. We used the Fiskars large heart punch to make the wattle, and the tail is a paper plate cut into a semicircle. Square tissues were used as feathers, and everything was attached to a cardboard tube/cylinder.
As children assemble their turkeys, have them analyze, compare, and identify the shapes based on their attributes; facilitate conversation about the similarities and the differences of the objects. When working with older students (pre-kers and kinders) who are developmentally ready, take this opportunity to introduce the vocabulary words 2D and 3D, and talk about how 2D shapes are flat and 3D are not.
MATERIALS USED:
– Toilet paper roll
– Construction paper
– Fabric
– Tissue paper
– Googly eyes
– Stiff felt
– Paper plate
– Fiskars large heart punch
– Glue
– Scissors
Ho! Ho! Ho! This Christmas Math and Literacy Activities pack is sure to make the season a little brighter. It contains 10 worksheets and 7 learning center activities that strengthen the following skills:
– Counting
– One-to-one correspondence
– Classification
– Number recognition
– Number quantity
– Set recognition
– Number formation
– Measurement
– Association
– Attribute variance
– Story sequencing
– Upper and lowercase letter recognition
– Beginning sound recognition
– Visual discrimination
– Phonological and phonemic awareness
– Fine motor
– Following directions
Please note that these learning center activities are designed to be printed (on cardstock) and laminated. This will ensure their use and enjoyment for years to come.
GINGERBREAD SPIN & COUNT SHEETS (COLOR 2/B&W 2)
Attach paperclip spinners with round head fasteners (brads) to the sheets. Provide gumdrops, mini erasers or some other small manipulative for students to use. Young learners will spin, identify a number and place that amount of items on their sheets. As children pick up and place each item, encourage them to say its number name (one, two, etc.). Older children may fill all three lines, while younger ones may only complete the first or second. Once finished, have students count all of the items on their sheets.
CHRISTMAS ROLL AND COVER SHEETS (COLOR 4/B&W 4)
Supply a small manipulative such as mini erasers for students to use as markers. For individual use, have the child roll the die, count the dots (or recognize the “set” of dots), and find and cover the corresponding number on the sheet. Repeat until all of the numerals are covered. In small group, give each child a sheet and have them take turns rolling the die. The first person to cover all of their numbers wins. Trade cards and play again!
CHRISTMAS TREE NUMBER QUANTITY TASK CARDS (COLOR 10/B&W 10)
Provide students with M&Ms, buttons, beads, or some other small manipulative to use as ornaments. Children will match numerals with quantity. Have students identify the number on each tree and “decorate” it with the corresponding number of “ornaments”. Encourage children to count every item once, using the number word. Older children can use this activity to practice set recognition.
To extend this activity, ask your learners to examine and compare the number sets of trees. Ask, “Which set has more ornaments? Which set has less?” when showing 2 sets. Remind children that the world less means not as many.
CHRISTMAS MEASURING CARDS (COLOR 10/B&W 10)
Supply Unifix Cubes or another small manipulative for children to measure (nonstandard) the length of the items. Be sure to discuss which are longer, shorter, and the same size. To extend this activity, students may use the included Merry Measuring – Measure and Record sheet to record their answers.
GINGERBREAD ALPHABET MATCH-UP (COLOR 26/B&W 26)
Learners will identify the uppercase letter featured on the gingerbread man. They will then work to “decorate” the gingerbread with its lowercase letter partner/gumdrop.
CHRISTMAS EVE ALPHABET BINGO (MATS COLOR 6/B&W 6 – DRAW CARDS COLOR 26/B&W 26)
Provide Hershey Kisses, M&Ms, gumdrops, vase gems, mini erasers or some other small manipulative for students to use as markers. Dot markers may be used for the black and white version of this activity.
Working in a small group, young learners will identify the letters on the draw cards, and cover them on their sheets. The first player to cover his/her sheet yells “BINGO”. Trade cards and play again!
CHRISTMAS RHYMING TASK CARDS (COLOR 10/B&W 10)
Students will say the name of each main picture and find and cover its rhyming partner. Supply clothespins, pom poms, gumdrops, mini erasers or some other manipulative for children to use as markers.
MATH AND LITERACY WORKSHEETS (10)
With these 10 worksheets, students will identify beginning sounds, sequence a story, segment syllables, and so much more!
Let’s have some fun and count Mr. Turkey’s feathers. This colorful magnet tray activity is an inviting way for children to exhibit number sense.
Have children choose a wattle and identify it’s number (younger students may need help). Then prompt them to place the wattle and the corresponding number of feathers on Mr. Turkey. Instruct students to use one-to-one correspondence as they place their feathers on the bird; as they pick up each feather, they should say its number name.
Additionally, this activity may be used to reinforce color recognition.
I hope you find this counting exercise to be a useful addition to your fall curriculum.
We're Gigi and Zoey. We teach a two-year program (preschool and pre-k), and we're passionate about Early Childhood Education and the philosophy that children learn through play. Our goal is to prepare children for kindergarten while making learning fun.
We hope that our resources inspire you, and that you will share them with your little ones.
- 
- 
- 
