Ideas for Thanksgiving Math Word Problems

Thanksgiving math word problems are an easy way to infuse the November spirit of gratitude into every part of the school day. Customize these general turkey-themed concepts for whatever grade level you teach.

Addition/Subtraction

• Mrs. Jones baked 5 pumpkin pies on Monday, 6 pumpkin pies on Tuesday, and 8 pumpkin pies on Wednesday. How many pumpkin pies did she bake altogether?
• Jasmine made 14 cups of butternut squash soup for Thanksgiving dinner. The family ate 9 cups of the soup at dinner. How many cups of soup were left over?
• Mr. Wilson went to the store to buy the food for Thanksgiving dinner. He spent $17.43 on vegetables, $32.16 on turkey and stuffing, and $12.19 on beverages. How much did Mr. Wilson spend altogether?
• Grandma brought two dozen cookies to Thanksgiving dinner. All but 3 were eaten that night. How many cookies were eaten?

Multiplication/Division

• Each apple pie serves 9 people. There are 5 pies on the table. How many people will this feed?
• There are 32 ears of corn for 16 people. How many ears of corn can each person eat?
• The grocery store is selling turkeys for $7 each. They have sold 13 so far in the month of November. How much money has the store made so far in turkey sales?
• The pumpkin patch has 47 rows of pumpkins and 93 pumpkins in each row. How many pumpkins are there in all?

Advanced/Other

• Lois bought three turkeys for three different prices. The prices were $18.92, $21.75, and $16.31. What is the average cost of the turkeys? Round to the nearest cent.
• Mike ate 1.4 pounds of food at Thanksgiving dinner. John ate 1.6 pounds. Write an inequality to compare the amount of food each boy ate. Use the less than or greater than sign.