Do you have little ones who love playdough? If so, we’ve got the perfect printable play dough mats for them! These mats are perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, pre-k aged kids, and kindergarteners. They are a great way to practice counting, letter recognition, and more. Plus, they are just plain fun!
To use these playdough mats, simply print them out, give your child some play dough, and let them play! Hands on learning fun for the win!
Jump to Play Dough Mats List
What is the Best Way to Store Playdough and Playdough Mats?
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We recommend storing playdough and playdough mats in an airtight container. This will help keep the playdough fresh and prevent it from drying out. We also recommend using a laminator to laminate the playdough mats or using write and wipe pockets during play. This will make them more durable and extend their lifespan. Our favorite tools for playdough storage are:
- Latchmate Box for holding playdough and manipulatives
- IKEA Glis Box for individual playdough activities
- Small Plastic Containers to store batches of homemade playdough
Materials Needed to Create a Play Doh Mats Home Resource Library:
- Playdough Mats Printables (see list below)
- Medium Letter File Box or Binder for Printed PDF Playdough Mats
- Task Boxes
- Sensory Trays
- Playdough
- Playdough Manipulatives
Best Homemade Playdough Recipes:
If you are looking for the best playdough recipe to use with your playdough mats, we’ve got you covered! We have tested and tried many play dough recipes and these are our favorites.
Easy Playdough Recipe
Our most trusted and favorite classic play dough recipe!
How to Make Playdough Without Flour
Learn this simple trick for making play dough at home without flour!
How Do You Fix Playdough That is Too Dry?
If your playdough is too dry when you pull it out to play with your playdough mats, there are a few things you can try to fix it.
First, add a little bit of water to the playdough and knead it in. If that doesn’t work, you can try adding a bit of baby oil or lotion to the playdough. We’ve found that a little goes a long way, so start with a few drops and work it in. If the playdough is still too dry, you can try adding more until it reaches the desired consistency.
Another option is to simply make a new batch of playdough.
What are the Benefits of Play Dough?
Play dough is a great way to encourage fine motor skills, creativity, and imagination. It is also a great sensory play activity for kids of all ages. You can read all about the developmental benefits and sensory benefits of playdough here. Playdough mats truly are a fantastic tool to have in your homeschool or classroom.
In the list of playdough mats below, you’ll find several ways to teach various skills to your child. The following are examples of some of the skills worked on in a fun way using these playdough mats:
- Literacy skills such as:
- alphabet knowledge
- letter recognition
- letter sounds
- Uppercase and Lowercase Letter formation
- sight words
- Math skills such as:
- counting
- one-to-one correspondence
- number recognition
- number formation
- number word writing
- shapes
- Science skills such as:
- communicating
- observing
- predicting
- sorting and classifying
And so much more!
How Does Playdough Help Fine Motor Skills?
Playdough is so much fun and a great way to build fine motor skills. The act of squishing, pinching, and rolling the playdough helps to strengthen the muscles in the hands and fingers. This is an important prewriting skill for kids to have as they learn to hold a pencil and form letters. Playdough mats are also a great way to work on fine motor skills. The mats often include activities that require kids to use their fingers and hands in a specific way. For example, playdough counting mats may include tens frames or number lines that need to be filled with a playdough tool. Others may have buttons, small toys like dinosaurs, or shapes that need to be pushed into the playdough. These types of activities help to build the muscles and coordination needed for writing.
What Can You Add to Playdough to Make It More Fun?
Playdough mats of course! Some of our other favorite playdough toys are:
| Fake Flowers | Cookie Cutters | Mini Erasers |
| Pipe Cleaners | Beads | Buttons |
| Strainer | Blocks | Tooth Picks |
| Mr. Potato Head Pieces | Q-Tips | Comb |
| Plastic Animals | Straws | Cups/Bowls |
| Garlic Masher | Kids Silverware | Wine Corks |
| Bottle Tops | Shells | Twigs/Stones |
| Googly Eyes | Pom Poms | Pine Cones |
| Legos | Melon Baller | Matchbox Cars |
| Stamps | Kid Safe Scissors | Dough Rolling Pins |
| Plastic Eggs | Plastic Gems | Cake Candles |
Printable Play Dough Mats
These printable play dough mats are a great way to keep your kids entertained and engaged!
Zoo Playdough Mats
If your children love animals, these zoo playdough mats are a great activity for them. They promote a number of learning concepts necessary for pre-k and kindergarten. There are so many ways to play while learning with this bundle, your students will NEVER get bored!
Printable Alphabet Road Letters
Learning letter formation is easy with these ABC Letter Roads. The colorful, printable packet includes colored sheets of upper and lowercase letters for hours of entertainment. Use with miniature cars, play dough, wiki sticks, and more!
2D Shapes Playdough Mats
These fine motor 2D Shapes play dough task cards make learning fun! Kids use different colors of play dough to create a variety of different 2D shapes.
Printable Dinosaur Playdough Task Cards
These Dinosaur Playdough Mats are fun educational toy for preschoolers and kindergarteners. The playdough mats can be used in the classroom, at home, or on the go. They are a great way to learn about dinosaurs!
Printable Emotions Playdough Mats and Task Cards
These emotions play dough mats are designed to help kids identify big emotions while facilitating conversations around what they are experiencing.
Using these playdough mats children identify the emotion shown, make it out of play dough, and then talk about it following the prompt provided at the bottom of each mat.
Printable Human Body Playdough Mats
These printable human body playdough mats let kids have fun while learning about anatomy while exploring the different parts of the body. They're perfect for rainy days, summer break, or anytime you want a little educational fun.
Printable Play Dough Number Mats: Counting 0-10
These 0-10 number playdough mats are an easy to prep number activity that is perfect for kids. They come with tens frame, number line, number words, and more.
Alphabet Play Dough Mats (with Free Printable Included)
These Alphabet Playdough Mats are the perfect printable activity for teaching beginning sounds, letter formation, and phonemic awareness. These playful mats are a great way to help your child learn their letters and get ready for reading!
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