Cooking with children is a wonderful way to expose them to important math concepts. The passage of time is an abstract concept that's sometimes very difficult for young minds to grasp. But waiting for the turkey to come out of the oven on Thanksgiving is a concretely yummy experience!
Grade
Subject
Thank you for your input.
View aligned standards
No standards associated with this content.
Which set of standards are you looking for?
What You Need:
- Cookbook or Internet resource with turkey cooking times
- Digital, or traditional kitchen timer
- Analog clock
What You Do:
- Sit with your child and explain that you're going to create an itinerary for Thanksgiving dinner!
- Help your child look up cooking times and temperature for your size turkey on the internet or in a cookbook.
- Have them help decide when to eat on Thanksgiving Day.
- Then, challenge your child to figure out when will you need to start the turkey, referring to the cooking times and turkey size.
- Tell your child that they will become the official time keeper as the turkey roasts.
- Explain to your child that the short hand on an analog clock shows the hours, whereas the long hand shows the minutes. Remind them that there are exactly sixty minutes in an hour.
- Explain that each time the minute hand goes around, an hour has passed.
- Review how to set a digital timer, or use a more traditional kitchen timer.
- As you slide the prepared turkey into the oven, have your child start the timer and check the time on the analog clock.
- Periodically throughout the duration of the roast, ask your child how much time has passed and how much time remains until the turkey is fully cooked.
- Each time you ask the official cook time, have them first report the hours, then the minutes, and finally the seconds that the turkey has been roasting. In addition, have your child report how much time remains until the Thanksgiving turkey is done.
Enjoy the fruits of your collective labor! As an added bonus, we can almost guarantee your bird won't be overcooked this year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Related learning resources
Time Flies!
Worksheet
Time Flies!
Time flies in this time telling worksheet, which tasks kids with calculating the amount of time that has passed. Your child can use the pictured clock to solve.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
Time Words
Worksheet
Time Words
Learn time words and phrases and what they mean with this vocabulary sheet that helps students successfully tell time.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
Time Flies
Workbook
Time Flies
Your child may be able to read a clock, but what about the passage of time? This workbook is all about elapsed time, and how to both estimate and calculate how much time has passed in between hours.
3rd grade
Math
Workbook
Time to the Minute
Exercise
Time to the Minute
With this exercise, your students will learn how to tell time to the minute in no time at all.
3rd grade
Math
Exercise
Practice Telling Time
Worksheet
Practice Telling Time
Children practice identifying dates on a calendar and telling time with a clock in this math worksheet.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
Elapsed Time: Subtraction
Worksheet
Elapsed Time: Subtraction
Use this resource with your students to practice solving elapsed time word problems using subtraction.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
Elapsed Time: Addition
Worksheet
Elapsed Time: Addition
Use this resource with your students to practice solving elapsed time word problems using addition.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
Solving Time Problems with a Number Line
Worksheet
Solving Time Problems with a Number Line
It's time to calculate.. time! In this exercise your class will use a number line to add and subtract time.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
A Matter of Time
Worksheet
A Matter of Time
Children will solve five word problems by determining the duration of intervals of time to the nearest quarter hour.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
Elapsed Time Word Problems 1
Worksheet
Elapsed Time Word Problems 1
Use this resource with your students to practice solving elapsed time word problems. Students will determine the amount of time that has passed.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
How Much Time Has Gone By?
Worksheet
How Much Time Has Gone By?
Now that your third grader is an expert at telling time, bring on a bigger challenge: calculating elapsed time.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet
Sporting Events Elapsed Time
Worksheet
Sporting Events Elapsed Time
Help your second grader practice identifying elapsed time with this sporting events math worksheet.
3rd grade
Math
Worksheet