Thanksgiving Preschool Centers for Literacy and Math

These Thanksgiving preschool centers bring letters, counting, colors, and shapes to your November learning activities. Children build turkey tails, fill cornucopias, match corn pieces, and add whipped cream to pumpkin pies while practicing early learning skills.

The five printable activities are suitable for Preschool, Pre-K, Transitional Kindergarten, and Kindergarten. Choose the pieces that match your children’s learning needs and use them during small groups, literacy and math centers, morning tubs, or learning time at home.

What’s Included in the Thanksgiving Preschool Centers?

The complete packet includes five activities:

• Turkey alphabet and beginning sounds matching
• Cornucopia sight word matching with 40 words
• Corn number matching for numbers 1–10
• Pumpkin pie shape matching
• Turkey feather color sorting

Each activity has separate pieces for children to handle, compare, and match. Clothespins can add fine motor practice, while simple tabletop matching offers an easier starting point.

Turkey Alphabet and Beginning Sounds Match

These little turkeys are ready for their feathers!

Each turkey displays an uppercase letter. Children find the matching uppercase and lowercase letter feathers, then add the picture feathers associated with that letter.

For example, the C turkey includes pictures such as a cat, cow, and camera. Say the picture names together and listen for the beginning sound before adding them to the turkey.

You can introduce this activity in stages:

• Begin with one turkey and its matching letter feathers.
• Offer two or three turkeys for children to sort between.
• Add picture feathers when children are ready for sound practice.

Preparation tip: I usually use hook-and-loop dots for activities like this, but I also tried adhesive magnets. They helped keep the feathers together on the table, although the magnets I used weren’t strong enough to hold everything in place when the turkey was lifted. Test your materials before setting out the activity.

The pieces also work as a simple tabletop matching activity without any attachments.

Cornucopia Sight Word Match

Children fill each cornucopia with a pumpkin, apple, bunch of grapes, and ear of corn displaying the matching word.

The complete activity includes 40 sight words, so you can choose a small selection that fits the words you are currently teaching. Words such as can, see, and, and the appear in the examples shown here.

Read each word together before matching. Where appropriate, help children connect the letters to the sounds they know so the activity includes reading practice as well as visual matching.

Fine motor tip: Attach the produce pieces to wooden clothespins. Children squeeze the clothespins and clip each piece onto the matching cornucopia.

Start with two contrasting words, then gradually add more choices. There is no need to put out all 40 words at once!

Corn Number Match

This Thanksgiving math activity connects three ways of showing a number: a numeral, a group of dots, and a number word.

Each corn plant displays a numeral from 1 to 10. Children count the dots on one corn piece and find the matching number word on another.

For example, the plant labeled 5 needs the corn piece with five dots and the piece reading five.

Attach the smaller corn pieces to clothespins so children can clip them onto the plant as they match.

Teaching tip: Encourage children to touch each dot once while counting. After counting, ask, “How many dots are there altogether?” Then connect that quantity to the numeral.

For children who are just beginning, offer numbers 1–3 and focus on matching the dots to the numerals. Introduce the number words with adult support, then extend the activity to larger numbers.

Pumpkin Pie Shape Match

These pumpkin pies give children a chance to notice shapes in everyday objects.

Each slice shows pictures of objects with a shared shape. Children look at the shape held by the child on the whipped cream piece and match it to the correct pie.

For example, the circle pie includes a watch face and a Ferris wheel. The square pie includes a cushion and a checkerboard.

Teaching tip: Talk about the part of each picture that shows the shape. You might ask, “Which part of the watch looks like a circle?” or “How do you know this board is a square?”

Begin with two familiar shapes before adding more choices. Children can place the whipped cream directly onto the pie or use a clothespin attached behind the piece, as shown in the photos.

For an extra challenge, look around the classroom or home for another object with the same shape.

Turkey Feather Color Sorting

Children sort the colored feathers and add them to the turkey with matching wings.

The feathers include different shades, giving children opportunities to notice that light green and dark green still belong to the green group.

Teaching tip: Start with two clearly different colors, such as red and green. Once children understand the activity, add more turkeys and mix the feathers together.

Encourage children to name the colors as they sort. You can also ask them to find another object nearby that belongs to the same color group.

Use hook-and-loop dots if you would like the feathers to stay attached, or leave the pieces loose for tabletop sorting.

Preparing and Organizing Your Thanksgiving Preschool Centers

Print the pages you plan to use, laminate them for repeated use, and cut out the pieces. Prepare any clothespins or optional attachments before introducing the activities.

A few simple choices can make these centers easier to manage:

• Offer a small selection. A few letters, numbers, words, or colors are often enough for one session.
• Model the activity first. Show children how to choose, check, and attach a matching piece.
• Adjust the fine motor demand. Children can place pieces beside the matching mat if squeezing clothespins is still difficult.
• Keep each activity together. Store the mats, matching pieces, and clothespins in a labeled pouch or container.
• Rotate the choices. Swap in new pieces while keeping the familiar activity routine.

These Thanksgiving preschool centers can be used with an adult first, then revisited independently once children understand what to do.

Free Thanksgiving Preschool Centers Downloads

Would you like to try a few activities before preparing the complete packet?

Use the button below to access the free sample pages. Choose the activities that suit your children, print the pages you need, and follow the preparation suggestions above.

Bonus Turkey Feather Counting Activity

For another counting option, try my separate free Turkey Feather Counting Activity. Children identify the numeral on a turkey and add the matching number of feathers.

There are three ways to set it up:

1. Printable feathers: Use the paper feather pieces for counting and matching.
2. Craft feathers and clothespins: Glue feathers onto wooden clothespins for children to count and clip around the turkey.
3. Pipe cleaner feathers: Punch holes around a laminated turkey and have children thread pipe cleaners through the holes.

Choose the version that best suits the materials you have and the fine motor skills your children are practicing.

Get the Complete Thanksgiving Preschool Centers Packet

Ready to add all five activities to your November centers?

The complete 100-page Thanksgiving Preschool Centers packet includes the alphabet and picture matching sets, 40 sight word sets, numbers 1–10, pumpkin pie shape matches, and turkey color sorting pieces.

Use the activities throughout November, changing the letters, words, numbers, and colors as your children are ready for more practice.

Happy Teaching! 😊

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