The Tooth, The Whole Tooth, And Nothing But The Tooth
Cross-Curricular Activities to Explore Dental Health
New and Improved Addition Machine
DIY Addition Machine: Math Manipulatives to Excite Your Kids
I love using manipulatives with math concepts. It really transforms the math concepts into concrete learning experiences. Young children and kinesthetic learners really benefit from interacting with a concept and bringing it to life.
A long time ago, I started using a PVC pipe with a drain at the bottom to teach addition. I used a permanent marker to write an addition sign on the drain and my students were able to pour manipulatives into both sides of the pipe. Then, they would open the drain at the bottom and find the total number of manipulatives. It is a great visual for addition. See another blog post on addition here.
Thanks so much for joining me! I hope that you found these ideas useful and that they help inspire your kids to understand and love math.
DIY Turkey From A Plastic Bucket
Learning Fun With Turkey: Turkey Learning Activities
Tons of learning activities revolving around a turkey. Great ideas to incorporate around Thanksgiving. DIY turkey container (he really eats!), rhyming activities, letter identification, initial and ending sound fun, and more!
You can see the directions to make a turkey out of a Cascade container here.
Get the directions to make the Print & Cut turkey here.
Ways to Use Your Turkey
Pass out cards to help kids practice basic skills: letter identification, beginning & ending sounds, rhymes, numeral identification, counting, addition, subtraction, or any skill you choose. We used cards from my Turkey Time: Literacy Pack. You can pass out cards to the whole group, or use the turkey in a center. Kids will feed the turkey!


Use the “Turkey Time” rhyme to spark excitement with the kids. Change the key words in the rhyme to help students’ focus on the specific skills.
Get your free copy of the turkey rhyme here.
Materials Needed for Bucket Turkey
- Plastic bucket (I got mine from the Dollar Store)
- Foam or card stock
- Felt to cover the turkey’s body
- Hot glue
- Magnet
- Tape
DIY Bucket Turkey

Step 3: Tape the feathers together and glue the black pupils into the middle of the eyes.
Step 4: Tape a magnet or rock to the tip of the beak. This is just to give the beak some weight. It will help keep the turkey’s mouth closed.
Step 9: Your turkey is ready for learning fun!