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US Letter, 8.5 x 11 inches. Print at 100% for craft pieces; use Fit to page if your printer clips the margins. An adult should help with scissors and fitting wearable crafts.
Practice multiplication facts with a Thanksgiving color by number activity. Children solve each fact before choosing the color associated with its product. Several problems share an answer, giving students a chance to notice related multiplication facts rather than treat each expression as an isolated task. Keep the answer key separate until the student is ready to check the work.
How to use this printable
- Read the color key together and find the available products: 12, 16, 18, 20, 24 and 30. Set out the matching crayons.
- Solve each multiplication fact in pencil. Encourage students to use an array, skip count or recall a known related fact when an answer is uncertain.
- Match the product to the color key and color the corresponding problem area. Keep pencil answers readable until checking is finished.
- Compare the completed work with the answer key. Choose one incorrect fact, explain the correction and recolor only if the student wants to.
Make the activity your own
This page works well as a short fluency center after students understand equal groups. For example, compare 3 x 4 and 2 x 6: both produce 12, but their arrays have different shapes. Ask children to draw one of those arrays on the back of the page. Avoid timing the coloring portion, since neat coloring and multiplication fluency are different skills.
Printing and questions
Print the PDF on US Letter paper in portrait orientation. Start with one copy and check the preview before making a classroom set. Use ordinary paper for a worksheet, or cardstock when the finished piece needs to stand up to handling.
Which facts are included?
The activity uses facts with products from 12 through 30, including repeated products that can be compared.
What if I do not have all the colors?
Substitute your own six colors and write the revised key before students begin. The mathematical answers remain the same.