Easy Prep Thanksgiving Ideas for Kindergarten
Thanksgiving is coming, which means excitement, sugar highs, and more paper turkeys than your classroom bulletin board can handle!
Between family projects, themed activities, and all the seasonal excitement buzzing around, November is bursting with fun in kindergarten!
And with easy prep Thanksgiving ideas for kindergarten, AKA a mix of DIY fun, no-prep resources, and classroom favorites, you can channel all that November excitement into meaningful learning (without running out of glue or patience!).
Below, youβll also find my favorite easy prep Thanksgiving sight word and counting ideas for kindergarten that just so happen to involve a DIY pumpkin pie!
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Prep A Slice of Fun: Your DIY Pumpkin Pie
Iβm not typically a pie kind of girl, but Iβll definitely make an exception for pumpkin pie (especially warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!)!
Now that Iβve made all of us hungryβ¦ letβs talk about how to turn that (DIY) pumpkin pie love into hands-on literacy and math practice your students will adore.
What Youβll Need:
- Orange and brown construction paper
- White pom-poms (or cotton balls)
- Scissors
- A permanent marker
- Paper plates
- Rubber cement
- A bowl and a plastic spoon
How to Make the DIY Pumpkin Pie:
To build your pumpkin pie, take 9 X 12 pieces of construction paper and draw large circles on the brown paper and slightly smaller circles on the orange paper. Then cut them out.
*Pro Tip: You can make several of these at a time by stacking the construction paper.
Use the rubber cement to glue an orange circle on top of a brown one, and voilΓ , pumpkin pie!
Two DIY Activities Using Your Pumpkin Pie
1. Pumpkin Pie Sight Word Activity
For this easy prep sight word activity, once the rubber cement is dry, cut your βpieβ into quarters or eighths (depending on the number of letters in your chosen sight word).
Write a sight word on a paper plate and the matching letters on the pie slices.
Students will read the word, find the matching slices, and build the word right on their plate.
Add white pom-poms as βwhipped creamβ for each letter to mix in counting and fine motor practice!
*Pro Tip: Have students use a plastic spoon to βscoopβ the whipped cream, a sneaky way to strengthen hand muscles while practicing sight words!
This hands-on, easy prep Thanksgiving idea for kindergarten combines literacy and counting practice in one fun Thanksgiving center! Use as many words as youβd like and let students count, build, and record their work.
Donβt forget to grab the *free recording sheet* below! Itβll show up in your inbox (along with one for the next Thanksgiving activity, too!).
2. Pumpkin Pie Counting Activity
Use the same setup as the easy prep sight word activity (I recommend leaving the pie sliced into quarters), but write numbers on the pie slices this time.
Students choose a slice, identify the number, and use a spoon to scoop that many pom-poms onto the piece, counting aloud as they go. You can practice numbers to 10 or 20, depending on your group.
Fill out the form above to snag your *free recording sheet* for the Pumpkin Pie Counting activity!
These sight word and counting activities make fantastic, easy prep Thanksgiving math and literacy centers.
No-Prep November Favorites
If you love easy prep Thanksgiving ideas for kindergarten (like the DIY pumpkin pie!) but also want something you can just print and use, youβll be totally covered with these November go-tos!
November Math and Literacy Worksheets
Need something ready to go for morning work, sub plans, or skill review?
These November Math and Literacy Worksheets include 80 blackline pages to reinforce key kindergarten skills like counting, subitizing, letter sounds, rhyming, and labeling.
Theyβre completely no-prepβ¦ just print and hand out!
Your students can work independently on skills like:
- Missing numbers to 10
- Counting sets within 10
- Short vowel word families
- Rhyming words
- Beginning and ending sounds
Theyβre perfect for fast finishers, centers, or homework when you need something engaging for a gray November day that wonβt take hours to prep!
November Crafts for Kindergarten
These November Crafts make it *so* easy to bring fine motor fun to your lesson plans!
Youβll get 12 simple crafts (4 math, 4 phonics, 4 writing) that are printer-friendly and designed for little handsβ¦ no tracing, no fancy supplies, no stress.
Skills include:
- Ways to make 5
- Subitizing and counting
- Beginning and ending sounds
- Rhyming and word families
Each craft includes step-by-step directions and a completed example to display, so your students can work independently while you help those who need extra support.
These are perfect for a Fun Friday, an end-of-unit celebration, or a Thanksgiving bulletin board that actually makes you smile every time you walk by.
November Writing Prompts
If youβre looking for meaningful writing activities that tie into gratitude, friendship, and fall fun, these November Writing Prompts will be your best friend.
There are 30 prompts (each with 3 differentiated versions) covering Thanksgiving, fall, and everyday topics, everything from βI am thankful forβ¦β to βIf I were a turkeyβ¦β
Each page includes:
- Large writing lines for beginner writers
- A themed word bank with illustrations
- A writing convention checklist
Turn them into a class book, use them for morning journals, or pair them with read-alouds.
November Roll and Spin Centers
Looking to simplify your centers this month?
These November Roll and Spin Centers are low-prep, consistent, and designed for independence.
Students roll or spin, then color, write, or match based on what they land on.
The routine remains the same across 15 math and 15 literacy centers⦠so once your students learn it, they can do it all month long without constant direction.
Skills covered include:
- Counting sets to 10
- Patterns
- 2D shapes
- Letter sounds
- Short vowels and simple sentences
Theyβre themed around turkeys, pies, and Thanksgiving fun,Β making them the perfect balance of seasonal and skill-based.
ββA Few More Easy Prep Thanksgiving Ideas for Kindergarten
*Then and Now lessons β spark discussion about how life has changed over time with simple, hands-on social studies mini units
*Pumpkin Pie in a Cup snacks β a no-bake classroom treat your students will love (and it doubles as a sequencing activity!)
*Tom the Turkey Letter Sound Game β an easy prep, interactive game to play around Thanksgiving to help students master their letters and sounds
Wrapping Up the Thanksgiving Season
Between crafts, writing, math, and literacy, easy prep Thanksgiving ideas for kindergarten will help you fill your November lesson plans with meaningful, low-stress fun.
Whether you go all-in with a pumpkin pie theme or stick to no-prep printables, your students will stay engaged, learning, and thankfulβ¦ and youβll actually have time to enjoy your own slice of pumpkin pie!
For even more Thanksgiving activities, read alouds, and freebies, check out this blog post!
