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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.
Combine basic addition with a Thanksgiving coloring activity. This turkey color-by-number sheet asks children to solve a small set of sums and use the answers to choose colors. The useful part is the connection between a number and a color key: children must check the result rather than color every section at random.
What to make
This version keeps the arithmetic within ten. Use it after students have practiced adding with fingers, counters, or a number line. The activity can support independent work, but it also makes a gentle partner task when one child reads a sum and another explains a strategy. Keep the answer page separate until the coloring is complete.
How to use this printable
- Set out red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and brown crayons and read the color key together before solving any sums.
- Solve the first addition problem with counters if needed, then find the matching answer in the color key.
- Write each answer lightly near its problem before coloring so the arithmetic remains easy to check.
- Review the finished work using the answer page and invite children to explain one strategy that helped them.
Make the activity your own
If a learner is still developing number confidence, work through only four problems and finish the remaining sections together. An older learner can write a second addition sentence with the same answer beside each section. Color names can be adapted to the supplies available; keep the number-to-color mapping consistent once the activity begins. The goal is accurate reasoning with an enjoyable finished turkey.
Questions before you begin
Can I use different colors?
Yes. Write a revised key before starting and use that key for the whole sheet. Any visible colors will work.
Does a coloring mistake mean the math is wrong?
Not necessarily. Check the written answer and the color key separately to see whether the difficulty was arithmetic or matching.