Thanksgiving geoboard mats give busy little fingers a festive fine motor workout this November! With the Fine Motor Mats for Thanksgiving | Geoboards, preschool and kindergarten children grab, stretch and place rubber bands to build Thanksgiving pictures like a turkey, a cornucopia, a hat and corn.

Fine motor skills help children learn to control the hand, fingers and thumb. Activities like these help children develop the skills they need not only to hold a crayon and write with a pencil but to handle everyday tasks. A geoboard is a small pegboard children stretch rubber bands across to make lines and shapes. On each mat, children build a picture with matching colors, name the 2D (flat) shapes they see and trace uppercase and lowercase letters.

With these Thanksgiving geoboard mats, you get

• Thanksgiving designs such as a turkey, cornucopia, hat and corn to build with rubber bands
• Color matching and one-to-one correspondence on every mat
• 2D shape identification with shape choices on each mat
• Uppercase and lowercase letter tracing with beginning sound practice

Print the mats, pull out the geoboards and your Thanksgiving fine motor center is ready to go.

What's Included

• Thanksgiving geoboard mats with designs such as a turkey, a cornucopia, a hat and corn
• Color matching to build each picture with rubber bands
• 2D shape choices on each mat
• Uppercase and lowercase letter tracing, such as Tt for turkey, Cc for cornucopia and corn and Hh for hat

Why Teachers Love It

• Builds hand strength: Grabbing, stretching and placing rubber bands strengthens the index finger and thumb.
• More than fine motor: Each mat adds color matching, 2D shape identification, letter tracing and beginning sounds.
• Seasonal and fun: Turkeys, cornucopias, hats and corn keep children excited during the weeks before Thanksgiving break.
• Uses materials you already have: Geoboards and rubber bands get new life with every Thanksgiving design.
• Flexible: Use the mats for morning work, fine motor centers, literacy centers, OT sessions or rainy day activities.

Skills Students Practice

Primary Academic Skills

• Fine motor strength: Stretching rubber bands over the pegs builds the pincer grasp and pre-writing skills.
• Color matching: Children match each rubber band to the color shown on the mat.
• One-to-one correspondence: Children stretch each band from peg to peg to match the picture.
• 2D shape identification: Children find and name the shapes on each mat.
• Letter recognition and tracing: Children trace uppercase and lowercase letters such as Tt, Cc and Hh.
• Beginning sounds: Each letter connects to the first sound of the Thanksgiving picture, such as T for turkey.

Secondary Life & Learning Skills

• Following directions
• Maintaining attention
• Working independently
• Using mathematical language
• Building confidence during group participation

How to Use It

Step 1: Print the Thanksgiving mats and laminate them for durability so children can trace with a dry erase marker.

Step 2: Set out geoboards and colored rubber bands. Model how to stretch a band from peg to peg to match the picture on the mat.

Step 3: Children build the picture, name the 2D shapes and trace the uppercase and lowercase letters while saying the beginning sound.

Materials You'll Need

• Geoboards
• Rubber bands

Easy Differentiation

Children come to fine motor centers with different hand strength and letter knowledge. These mats are easy to adjust for each of them.

For Children Who Need More Support

• Start with the designs that use the fewest rubber bands
• Place the first band together and let the child finish the picture
• Offer larger, looser rubber bands that are easier to stretch
• Name each shape and letter together before starting

For On-Level Practice

• Build each picture independently with matching colors
• Name the 2D shapes on each mat
• Trace the uppercase and lowercase letters
• Say the beginning sound of each Thanksgiving picture

For an Extra Challenge

• Build the picture without looking back at the mat after each band
• Name another word that starts with the same sound as the picture
• Describe each shape using words like sides and corners
• Invite children to design their own Thanksgiving picture on the geoboard

For Speech, OT, ELL or Special Education Support

• Use the mats in OT sessions for grasp, finger strength and bilateral coordination (using both hands together)
• Practice Thanksgiving vocabulary such as turkey, cornucopia, hat and corn
• Practice target sounds with the beginning letters on each mat
• Use a short language frame such as "I need a ___ band."
• Give extra processing time before each band is placed

Perfect For

• November fine motor centers
• Morning work
• Math and literacy centers
• Small groups
• OT sessions
• ELL and ESL support
• Homeschool learning
• Early finishers and rainy day activities

Standards

These Thanksgiving geoboard mats support the 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines and Virginia's Early Learning and Development Standards (2021), and they build toward kindergarten skills in Common Core, the TEKS (Math, adopted 2012; ELAR, adopted 2017) and the Virginia SOL (Math 2023, English 2024):

Common Core State Standards

• CCSS K.G.A.2: Name shapes regardless of their size or orientation.
• CCSS K.G.B.5: Model shapes by building them from components, such as rubber bands on a geoboard.
• CCSS RF.K.1.d: Recognize and name uppercase and lowercase letters.

Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines

• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.IX.B.1: Show control in tasks that take small-muscle strength, such as stretching rubber bands over pegs.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.IX.B.2: Show growing control in tasks that need eye-hand coordination while matching each band to the picture.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.V.C.2: Create shapes using materials and manipulatives such as geoboards.
• Texas Pre-K Guidelines PK4.III.C.1: Recognize and name letters while tracing them on each mat.

Texas TEKS

• TEKS Math K.6.F: Create two-dimensional shapes using a variety of materials.
• TEKS ELAR K.2.D.v: Identify uppercase and lowercase letters.

Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards

• Virginia ELDS HPD3.1: Use eyes and hands together to stretch each band to the right peg.
• Virginia ELDS HPD3.2: Develop small muscle control while stretching and placing rubber bands.
• Virginia ELDS CLLD2.4: Learn how letters work by tracing uppercase and lowercase letters.

Virginia SOL

• VA SOL Math K.MG.2: Identify, name and construct plane figures with a variety of materials.
• VA SOL English K.FFR.3.A: Identify capital and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Kids will love learning with the Thanksgiving Fine Motor Geoboard Mats while they build fine motor skills, practice letters and have a LOT of fun! Add them to your cart today and have your November fine motor center ready in minutes.

These mats are also included in the Fine Motor Mega Pack: Check out the Fine Motor Mega Pack here

Download Details

Please note: This is a digital download that will be available to you directly after purchase. Nothing will be mailed to you.

You will receive a link to the download in three places

1. On the 'thank you' page after checkout
2. In your email
3. Login on the site here: https://lifeovercsstore.com/account