Türkiye and stuffing…football and gratitude. Most of us love Thanksgiving for the food and family, but this holiday can also include math. We created these festive Thanksgiving math word problems to help students practice their math skills while celebrating the season.
All you need to do is post one of these 3rd grade math word problems on your whiteboard or projector screen. Then let the kids take you from there!
Want to combine this set of word problems into one simple document? Get your free Google Slides by emailing us here.
25 Thanksgiving Math Word Problems
1. Mom needs 87 potatoes to make mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner. If you currently only have 39 potatoes in your kitchen, how many more potatoes do you need to buy?
48 potatoes.
2. On the day before Thanksgiving, the grocery store had 40 corn, 41 apples, 42 pumpkins, and 55 pumpkins on sale. How many items did you sell in total?
178 items.
3. Caleb is flying to his parents’ house for Thanksgiving. If the trip is 2,607 miles one way, how many miles will you fly in total?
5,214 miles.
4. At 6:13 p.m., a family sat down for Thanksgiving dinner. Each of the five people at the table took two minutes to tell each other what they were grateful for this year before they began their meal. What time did they start eating?
6:23pm
5. Sue is making paper turkeys to decorate her family’s Thanksgiving table. She has a total of 56 wings. Each paper turkey requires 8 feathers. How many paper turkeys can she make?
7 paper turkeys.
6. If the average price of a turkey is $1.21 per pound, what is the price of a 16 pound turkey?
$19.36.
7. Grandma brought pecan pie for Thanksgiving. The pie was cut into 8 pieces. If you ate all but two slices of the pie, how many pieces of the pie did you eat?
6/8 (or 3/4) of the pie.
8. This year, 10,294 people attended the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Last year, 9,832 people participated in the parade. How many more people participated in the parade this year?
462 people.
9. Kelly bought two dozen pumpkin donuts. If she eats two donuts every day, how many days can she eat donuts?
12th.
10. Dad baked 32 rolls for Thanksgiving. He wants to serve the same amount of rolls to each of his eight guests. How many rolls will be served to each dinner guest?
4 rolls each.
11. Ryan brought an apple pie to share with the class. There are 6 equal slices. Each slice contains the same number of apples. If Ryan counted 30 apples in total, how many are in each pie?
There are 5 apples in one slice.
12. Tom Turkey ate 16 grains of corn every day for 7 days. How many grains of corn did he eat this week?
112 grains of corn.
13. Elian’s family is watching football on Thanksgiving Day. His team scored 15 points in the first quarter, seven in the second and 11 in the third. The final score was 42 points. How many points did the team score in the fourth quarter?
9 points.
14. Farm turkey enclosures are rectangular. It is 24 feet long and 81 feet in circumference. How wide is a turkey pen?
16.5 feet.
15. The macaroni and cheese recipe calls for 2/3 cup of cheddar cheese and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese. What is the total amount of cheese needed to make the dish?
1 cup cheese.
16. Third graders raised money to buy Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless in the area. If Mr. Cote’s class raised $22.82, Mr. Reed’s class raised $17.14, and Mr. Alston’s students raised $33.10, how much money did they raise in total?
$73.06.
17. The Thanksgiving feast began at 3:15 p.m. and lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes. What time did the festival end?
5:45pm
18. Alana is making green bean casserole for Thanksgiving. She spent $30 on fresh green beans at the store. If the price of mung beans is $2.14 per pound, how many pounds of mung beans did she purchase?
14 lbs.
19. A canned food drive was held in the 4th grade classroom in November. There were 18 students in that class. If each student brought 6 cans, how many cans of food did everyone collect?
108 cans.
20. Cameron is making pumpkin pie. It takes 3 pumpkins to make 1 pie. How many pumpkins do you need to make 145 pies?
435 pumpkins.
21. Isabella’s dining room table is 60 inches long. Her mother asked her to add leaves to make a table long enough to seat all the Thanksgiving guests. Adding the leaves makes the table 84 inches long. How many centimeters long are the leaves? How many feet?
The leaves are 24 inches or 2 feet long.
22. Each Thanksgiving, Tess and her family write down three things they are grateful for on separate index cards. They put all the cards in a gratitude jar. If there are 9 people in attendance, how many cards are in the gratitude jar?
27 cards.
23. Manny saves money all year long to go shopping with his mother the day after Thanksgiving. This year, he wants to buy a $300 TV that is on sale for 50% off. How much does the TV cost after the discount?
After discounts, the TV costs $150.
24. Bakers always order Thanksgiving dinner. This year, we ordered baked ham, butternut squash soup, and cornbread. The ham cost $20.99, the soup cost $15.99 and the cornbread cost $9.99. How much did they spend on dinner?
They spent $46.97 on dinner.
25. Courtney wanted to bake two pies for her family. One pie crust requires 2.5 cups of flour. For the filling you will need 3 tablespoons of flour. How much flour does Courtney need in total?
5 cups plus 6 tablespoons of flour (86 tablespoons total).
