Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving STEM Challenges

These Thanksgiving STEM / STEAM Challenges will engage your students in brain-busting work disguised as fun while helping Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people meet their basic needs! Thanksgiving activities can be fun AND a good use of instructional time!

From this hub page, you will find everything you need to know about all five Thanksgiving STEM challenges: links to resources, blog posts, video walk-throughs, and teacher feedback on each resource.

The Basics:

Using simple materials, students work in partners or groups against criteria & constraints lists to design and build solutions to Thanksgiving challenge problems. Every challenge includes modifications for grades 2-8.

Though the Pumpkin Picker and Corn Cultivator challenges could be interchanged, the recommended order is based on the following story line:

– Water transportation (Mini Mayflower / Mini Mishoon)
– Build shelter (Protect the People)
– Gather food (Pumpkin Picker)
– Organized agriculture (Corn Cultivator)
– With food & shelter in place, there’s time for fun and games (Turkey Transporter)

Teacher Feedback on the Thanksgiving Bundle

I've used a variation of these activities every year with various grades. It is flexible, and a fun way for students to problem solve in groups, and celebrate the holiday. I'm even planning on using this in a modified version again this year with my first graders!

Teresa P.-Thanksgiving Bundle

So much fun! It really got the students thinking outside the box!I used these lessons for the first time last year. I can't wait to use them again this year!

Re Vonna H.-Thanksgiving Bundle

Love this resource. I love how it can hit so many different levels of students as well.

Jaymee B.-Thanksgiving Bundle

This is an extremely well-thought out unit that incorporates math, science and even reading. This was worth every dimes spent-thanks!

Jennie S.-Thanksgiving Bundle

This product is AMAZING! We completed the Mini-Mayflower project today and my students had a blast! They were begging for more!

Christine S.-Thanksgiving Bundle

Thank you for this AMAZING resource! It was so thorough and was easy to use! It was easy to integrate these STEM activities into my Thanksgiving unit. Thank you again!

Kelsie M.-Thanksgiving Bundle

These are terrific- solid STEM activities that are educational and engaging. They're full of resources to extend each activity. Glad I made this purchase and will definitely use again and again!

Katherine L.-Thanksgiving Bundle

Mini Mayflower and Mini Mishoon

Students work individually or in partners/groups, to build a boat that is designed to hold as much capacity as possible, and/or sails the fastest.

Teacher Feedback on Mini Mayflower / Mini Mishoon

WOW! My kids are completely invested in the building of the mini Mayflower. I even had a student thank me for letting them do the activity. The kids are problem solving, using critical thinking skills, and I love the reflection that takes place after the students complete the challenge. The discussions we've been able to have are inspiring! GREAT PRODUCT!

Stephanie R.-Mini Mayflower

I added this to my First Thanksgiving unit last year. The students (and the principal) loved it!

Class of Mack-Mini Mayflower

I tried this with my firsties last year, and they LOVED it! I look forward to using it this year, too! 🙂

Heidi S.-Mini Mayflower

My 3rd graders had SO much fun making their Mayflowers and "sailing" them! We didn't have time to do everything provided in this activity sadly, but I love this STEM challenge and I love how it can be used for such a variety of levels! I look forward to using this every year!

Ashley O.-Mini Mayflower

Great activity! My 4th and 5th graders really enjoyed it so I purchased the pumpkin picker one as well. The information was very detailed as well as the videos on how to do stems.

Raye P.-Mini Mayflower

Individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build a shelter to protect one or more Pilgrims or Wampanoag people from wind, rain, and snow.

Note: Pilgrim and Wampanoag cut-outs are provided, so you have the option of using either or both.

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Protect the People

This product was very thoughtfully laid out. It was very easy to follow, engaging, and creative! I really appreciate how you made cross curricular ties to math and language arts. Sometimes it's tricky to do with science, and this will really help students have fun and make connections. Thank you!

Kimberly P.-Protect-a-Pilgrim

My 7th and 8th graders loved this!

“The Witty Science Teacher”-Protect-a-Pilgrim

So awesome! My firsties really enjoyed this activity.

Donna A.-Protect-a-Pilgrim

My kids had so much fun doing this. My kids did a great job, and I love the additional aspects that accompany it (writing, planning, etc.).

J. Franco-Protect-a-Pilgrim

Fantastic STEM activities! The kids thought the activities were awesome! You did a super job! Thank you so much.

Nancye W.-Protect-a-Pilgrim

Fun activity to use year after year. It was a great way to challenge my students with learning disabilities ( high school). They loved doing this activity.

Tammy B.-Protect-a-Pilgrim

Individually, or in partners/groups, students will design and build a device to harvest a field of pumpkins as efficiently as possible. (Efficiency is measured in amount of time or number of moves needed to clear the pumpkin patch.) Once picked, pumpkins will be deposited in a harvest container.

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Pumpkin Picker

Great, fun themed STEM activity. Well written and thorough. Plenty of material. Thanks!

Christine B.-Pumpkin Picker

The perfect project right before Thanksgiving break. The students in my class were engaged and competitive completing the challenges while learning throughout the activity.

Nicole F.-Pumpkin Picker

I've used this for 2 or 3 years now-I have the whole set up in a bin and even reuse the pumpkins! My kids are so engaged and it's a great activity.

Kaitlin G.-Pumpkin Picker

This lesson is very detailed. I like the videos that go along with it because I am new to using STEM Challenges. I am excited to see how my students interact and create their machine for this project. Great idea!!!

Kim C.-Pumpkin Picker

I used this with my 8th grade STEM class and they had such an amazing time. I couldn't find any pumpkin candies or candy corn in stores (even though it wasn't even Thanksgiving yet) so I used caramels instead. It worked like a charm because they are about the same size and consistency. I will be using this again!

Andrea C.-Pumpkin Picker

Kimberly P.-Protect-a-Pilgrim

Individually, or in partners/groups, students will design and build one or more tools to aid in the cultivation of corn. The tool(s) must till, dig holes, plant & cover seeds, and water the crops.

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Corn Cultivator

Yay! This fits my current study of natural resources. I am sure my students will love this challenge.

Bernice K.-Corn Cultivator

This was an amazing activity. The students learned a lot.

Jenna B.-Corn Cultivator

You get a lot of bang for your buck! Thanks for a great activity.

Laurie T.-Corn Cultivator

WOW! This is one of my favorite TpT purchases to date! This STEM bundle is engaging and fun. My students loved the activities and it was a way to incorporate some fun into learning about Thanksgiving. The bundle was complete with everything you'd need (except building materials) the questions and instructions were well thought out and perfect!

Stephanie R.-Corn Cultivator

Individually, or in partners/groups, students will design and build a way to safely transport a turkey a given distance (e.g. width of the classroom, 15 ft., the top of the stairwell to the ground, etc.).

Because this can be treated as two separate challenges, two criteria/constraints lists have been provided: one for the turkey traveling a horizontal distance quickly and a second for a vertical drop, arriving gently/slowly.

As with all my challenges, modifications are included to make it appropriate for grades 2-8. More details can be found in resource, blog, and video linked below the teacher feedback.

Teacher Feedback on Turkey Transporter

This activity was so much fun! All of my students were very engaged and excited throughout this activity.

Krystal M.-Turkey Transporter

This was my students' favorite STEM project of the year. Easily adapted to different ages. Great resources included!

Buyer 8/1/18-Turkey Transporter

We did this the day before break and my 2nd graders LOVED it! So many giggles!

Catherine B.-Turkey Transporter

My kids absolutely LOVED this! This was so much fun! I did this during a curriculum night with the parents and they really enjoyed it too!

Emily T.-Turkey Transporter

This thorough resource will be great for my 2nd grade classroom. I love that you provided the video support with this as well. Once I try this one, I may need to come back and get the bundled pack. Thanks for the time and effort (and especially the video and various options for reflective work.)

Elizabeth W.-Turkey Transporter

Absolutely loved this. Very thorough instructions made this so easy to plan.

Elizabeth C.-Turkey Transporter

My class used this the day before Thanksgiving break. So many students were missing, and I wanted to do something valuable, but didn't want to proceed through the curriculum with all of my missing kiddos. This was PERFECT. The video was so helpful and the activity prompted some great science discussions (relationship between gravity and mass, friction, potential energy vs. kinetic energy). Thank you for such a well constructed activity!

Jennifer F.-Turkey Transporter

Did this with my second graders, and they loved it!!! It was amazing - I truly appreciated the video guidance also as I had never done an activity like this. I will be looking to purchase more from Kerry Tracy!!

Amy P.-Turkey Transporter