Thanksgiving Counting Mats

Thanksgiving will finally be upon my U.S. audience a lot sooner than you think. If you’re looking for a unique counting activity for you and the kids, check out these Thanksgiving Counting Mats. We, Canadians, celebrate Thanksgiving earlier in October, and I have to say I’m all excited about getting turkeyed out. Sometimes, we have two Thanksgiving celebrations in one weekend with plenty of leftovers.

If you’re planning your November activities, be sure to bookmark my list of Thanksgiving Printables for Kids. There’s a variety of worksheets, games, and crafts perfect for different ages and learning styles.

Learning in a fun environment where you’re focusing on the upcoming holiday can create an exciting learning experience that has everyone excited as well. This is why I like to incorporate fun holiday-themed activities that are also learning-based, too. The kids take to it and love it as well.

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Why do kids need to learn about Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a great chance to introduce history, gratitude, and seasonal fun in a way that’s easy to understand.

• Traditions: Kids learn why we celebrate Thanksgiving and how traditions differ from family to family.
• Gratitude: It opens the door to talk about being thankful, which is important for emotional growth.
• History basics: Simple stories about the pilgrims and Native Americans help build context.
• Seasonal vocabulary: They pick up new words like “harvest,” “feast,” or “cornucopia.”
• Connection to family: It’s a chance to share your family’s stories and values.

Recommended Thanksgiving Books

Bring this counting activity alive with your favorite Thanksgiving book. There are tons of choices for great Thanksgiving picture books your kids will love.

Sitting down and reading about Thanksgiving is a great way to get excited, too. There are a lot of Thanksgiving-themed books that talk about the holiday and also talk about things to be thankful for.

These are great topics to teach during this time of year and offer up so much learning potential, too.

Turkey TroubleLittle Critter: Just a Special ThanksgivingThanks for ThanksgivingThanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks! (Reading Railroad Books)T is for Turkey: A True Thanksgiving StoryHow to Catch a Turkey

 

Suggested topics to explore alongside this Thanksgiving activity

This activity fits nicely into a wider Thanksgiving theme. Here are some related topics that tie in well:

• Harvest foods: Talk about pumpkins, corn, and cranberries as you count them.
• Community helpers: Learn about how different people contribute to a Thanksgiving meal.
• Patterns and sorting: Use manipulatives from the mats to sort by color, shape, or size.
• Fine motor practice: Use tongs or stickers with the mats to build finger strength while counting.

More Printable Packs To Go With The Theme

I recommend these printable packs if you’re looking for more seasonal learning ideas. They go well with the printable counting mats and are ready to print and use.

What skills do kids practice with this printable?

There’s more than just number recognition going on here. Kids also work on important early learning foundations. Here are three things to focus on while using these mats:

• One-to-one correspondence: Point to and count each object out loud.
• Number tracing: Practice writing numbers using the guides at the bottom of each mat.
• Number quantity: Match the correct number of manipulatives (like buttons or counters) to the number on the mat.

My favorite Thanksgiving toys to use alongside the mats

Themed toys make learning feel more like play. I like to pull out our seasonal bins and set up centers with puzzles, fun games, or sensory bins.

 

Thanksgiving Counting Printable Supplies You’ll Need

These counting mats can be used in so many ways. Here’s what I recommend having on hand to get the most use out of them:

• Printer (I have this one)
• Paper
• Pencil
• Math counters (buttons, pom poms, mini erasers, etc.)
• Dry-erase pockets or a laminator (optional)
• Dry-erase markers (optional)

I have the HP printer 8710, but it’s no longer available. It’s been running well for years now. Consider another HP Instant Ink-ready printer so that you can use their program to send you ink cartridges whenever your printer gets low on ink.

What’s included in the Thanksgiving printable pack?

The Thanksgiving Counting Mats include twelve pages of number practice from 1 through 12. Each page features a large number with dot markers, seasonal illustrations, and traceable lines to help kids practice writing. These are great for preschool and kindergarten kids who are still working on fine motor skills and learning number quantities.

A few of our favorite pages were the one with three pumpkins, which was perfect for fall-themed vocabulary, and the one with eight slices of pie, which was always a hit right before lunch. The mats with pilgrim characters or turkeys also opened up good conversations about the holiday. You can easily reuse these throughout November to reinforce math concepts in a fun, seasonal way.

How to Use This Math Printable

My daughter loves using her bingo dabbers with math worksheets, so I create these mostly for her, who loves counting. I like changing them with the seasons, as it keeps things new for her, and I’m always adding new stuff for her to try.

She loves doing schoolwork like her older brothers. She has her own binder with her little worksheets when she wants to do “school.” These Thanksgiving counting mats are a lot of fun for kids to practice counting and fine motor skills. Isn’t that practical?

Now it’s your turn to get this fun number practice set for your kids. Simply click on the button below and follow the instructions. The printable file in PDF format will be in your email inbox! Yes! As simple as that!

If you’re new to the idea of using holiday content as a great way to learn, I really do recommend it. It tends to break up a bit of the fluidity of the day, and also just really does add a lot of excitement and fun. From Thanksgiving holidays to Christmas, there is always some new change going on that you can easily use as a learning base.

>> Want more free preschool printables?

See how we used our counters? We used cute little acorns that we found outside, which was also a great way for the kids to get out and about walking around as well.

You can use anything that you’d like as counters, so have fun with finding things outside or around the house.

Recommended Math Manipulatives

Math counters can help kids see how they work out math problems when they start to run out of fingers. They’re also great for visualizing math problems; never teach math without them.

edxeducation Math Cubes – Set of 100 – Linking Cubes For Early Math – Connecting Manipulative For Preschoolers Aged 3+ and Elementary Aged KidsNEOROD 121 PCS Base Ten Blocks for Math Manipulatives Plastic Differentiated Math Counters Class Set, Math Cubes, Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd 3rd Gradeedxeducation Counting Bears with Matching Bowls – Early Math Manipulatives – 68pc Set – 60 Bear Counters, 6 Bowls & 2 Game Spinners – Home LearningLearning Resources Transparent Color Counting Chips, Set of 250 Assorted Colored Chips, Ages 5+Melissa & Doug Abacus Developmental Toy Motor Skills 3+ Gift for Boy or Girledxeducation Plastic Pattern Blocks – Set of 250 – Early Geometry Skills – Math Manipulative for Shape Recognition, Symmetry, Patterning and Fractions – Ages 4+

 

More Thanksgiving Printables for Kids

• Thanksgiving Connect the Dots Printables
• Thanksgiving Activities for Kindergarten
• Thanksgiving Counting Cards and Puzzles
• Thanksgiving Tracing Worksheets
• Thanksgiving Color by Number Printables
• 10 Thanksgiving Printables for Preschoolers
• Thanksgiving Math Worksheets
• Thanksgiving Lego Challenge
• Free Printable Thanksgiving Activity Sheets by Simple Everyday Mom

Download your Thanksgiving Counting pages below

Get the Thanksgiving Counting Mats here!

Counting will be so much fun with these Thanksgiving-themed counting mats!

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