Thanksgiving Triples Puzzle
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In this fun Thanksgiving word puzzle, you must carefully arrange the letter trio cards to spell a variety of Thanksgiving related words. Will you and your students be up to this Thanksgiving challenge?
Puzzle Instructions
Combine the letter trios to spell out some words associated with Thanksgiving. Each trio of letters will be used exactly once.
For example, FAM and ILY can be combined to form FAMILY. LEA and VES can be combined to form LEAVES. What other Thanksgiving themed words will you be able to find?
Puzzle Inspiration
This puzzle was inspired by a “Holiday Triples” puzzle published by Erich Friedman in 2013 as part of a holiday puzzles collection. Instead of featuring Christmas-themed words, I decided to take the puzzle structure and modify it to feature Thanksgiving-related words like TURKEY and FAMILY.
This isn’t my first time to modify this puzzle for a different theme. This past April, I shared a math-word version of this triples puzzle. I also created a Halloween Triples Puzzle back in October.
Prepping the Puzzle
I printed the letter trio pages on orange colored paper and it through my laminator before cutting the pieces apart.
In the past, I have put ceramic disc magnets on the back of the pieces so students can move the pieces around on the dry erase board. With the Halloween Triples puzzle, I decided to print three sets of the letter trio cards and attached them to the dry erase board with magnetic clips and ziplock snack bags.
This worked well since students could grab the puzzle cards and bring them back to their table to solve the puzzle, so I am continuing with this method.
Using the Puzzle in the Classroom
I posted this puzzle as my puzzle of the week last week. My students got really into it.
I unexpectedly had to miss a day of school this week due to one of my kiddos being sick, and when I returned multiple students had to show me a picture they took of the puzzle on their phone after they solved it.
THANKSGIVING MATH RESOURCES
Looking for more free printable Thanksgiving resources? This activity is featured in my collection of Thanksgiving Math Activities and Puzzles. You’ll find 15 more creative ideas for incorporating Thanksgiving into your classroom!
Free Download of Thanksgiving Triples Word Puzzle
This file is available to download in both PDF format and Publisher format. The Publisher file is editable, but it requires you to have Microsoft Publisher installed on your computer.
PDF (Non-Editable)
Thanksgiving Triples Puzzle (PDF) (1419 downloads )
Publisher (Editable)
Thanksgiving Triples Puzzle (Editable Publisher File ZIP) (432 downloads )Puzzle Solutions
I intentionally do not make answers to the printable math puzzles I share on my blog available online because I strive to provide learning experiences for my students that are non-google-able. I would like other teachers to be able to use these puzzles in their classrooms as well without the solutions being easily found on the Internet.
However, I do recognize that us teachers are busy people and sometimes need to quickly reference an answer key to see if a student has solved a puzzle correctly or to see if they have interpreted the instructions properly.
If you are a teacher who is using these puzzles in your classroom, please send me an email at sarah@mathequalslove.net with information about what you teach and where you teach. I will be happy to forward an answer key to you.
Not a teacher? Go ahead and send me an email as well. Just let me know what you are using the puzzles for. I am continually in awe of how many people are using these puzzles with scouting groups, with senior adults battling dementia, as fun activities in their workplace, or as a birthday party escape room.
