"How Many Turkeys Tall Are You?" Non-Standard Measuring Activity

Around the holidays it can be tricky to get your kiddos to stay on task and we love the idea of sprinkling your lesson plans with activities that will get them out of their seat and {hopefully} prevent some of the behavior issues that arise when students get antsy. This Thanksgiving turkey non-standard measuring activity would make the perfect addition to your plans!

Themed for Thanksgiving, one of the things we love about this activity is that it takes little time to set-up. Simply create or purchase turkey cutouts, laminating and numbering each of the accents before sticking them (in numerical order!), one on top of the other, to the classroom wall. [You'll end up with a vertical line of turkeys; the turkey accent labeled with the number one touching the floor and the largest number at the top. The amount of accents needed depends upon their individual size. Since your students will be measuring themselves, you'll want to make sure that the line of accents is taller than your tallest kiddo, whether that requires ten turkeys or fifteen, etc.]

To complete the activity, have students work in pairs. Invite them to take turns standing beside the line of turkeys while their partner helps them determine how many turkeys tall they are.

The worksheet above provides a place for a picture. We recommend having a camera ready to capture each student with the turkeys and then, once the worksheets have been filled in and decorated, they can be mounted onto construction paper and used to create a fun math themed Thanksgiving display! [NOTE: Students can also draw a picture if actual photos aren't an option.]