Playdough is a must-have in any preschool classroom, and it can also be the perfect tool for some hands-on learning activities for preschoolers. Add some laminated playdough mats and you are set to go.
Using this post, you can literally have so many playdough activities for preschool at your disposal, anytime you need! Try any of these awesome playdough mats with some homemade playdough and make learning even more fun!
Looking for ideas? I’ve got you covered! I have gathered together some of the best playdough mats to match a variety of themes and that cover many important preschool skills. And the best part? They are FREE!
One of my all-time favorite ways to teach anything is using playdough.
I mean, really….I LOVE playdough.
So you know I’m going to have an arsenal of playdough printable mats that I can quickly print and laminate and use in my preschool classroom, (and several batches of my fail-proof playdough recipe, too).
It is my firm belief that all preschool teachers and homeschoolers should be equipped with their own amazing arsenal of ready-to-use playdough mats.
Remember how I said that I LOVE playdough? Well, I love playdough so much that I wrote a playdough recipe eBook. It features 45 unique diy playdough recipes. And, they really are all different.
It’s not just “add glitter” or “add essential oil”. The basic ingredients make up 45 totally different playdough recipes. You definitely won’t find this variety with store bought play doh.
And I’ve tried them all, so I know they work!
Since you will need A LOT of playdough to use with all of the awesome free printable playdough mats, be sure to check out my playdough recipe eBook! I wonder which one will be your favorite?
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45 Playdough Recipes$10.00
Playdough Mats
Playdough is wonderful sensory play that helps preschoolers develop hand muscle strength, fine motor skills, creativity, and more.
And, it certainly doesn’t hurt that most young children simply LOVE playing with this dreamy dough!
Playdough mats are perfect for home or school.
If you don’t have a laminator, you can just slip any of these printable playdough mats into a page protector and tape the edge down. In fact, having them all in a binder is an awesome way to store them.
Playdough Activities For Preschool
If there is one thing that my preschoolers never seem to tire of, it is playing with playdough.
I love that this squishy, gooshy, soothing substance is a staple in toddler and preschool classrooms (and homes) everywhere! It is a favorite way to consistently make learning fun!
It is so beneficial in teaching motor skills and strengthening those little hand muscles and preparing them for all the big kid tasks like writing!
And, as a bonus, it has an amazing calming effect for children and adults, alike! As Mary Poppins might say, playdough is practically perfect!
I wanted to be sure to share some of my favorite fine motor activities using playdough, as well as an awesome playdough name recognition activity with you!
Playdough Mats For Toddlers
Most toddlers fall in love with playdough the moment their tiny hands get to squoosh and smooosh it for the first time! It is bascially love at first sight (and feel!).
All the playdough mats in this post can be used with toddlers (some may need to be simplified). But, I also wanted to highlight a few of my favorite playdough mats for our youngest playdough lovers out there.
Happy playing and learning, little ones!
Playdough Alphabet Cards for Back To School
Your toddlers and preschoolers will delight at these beautiful alphabet cards. They are a surefire way to learn and practice letter formation as well as letter sounds.
Free Printable Fall Leaves Playdough Mats
Fall is such a fun time for young kiddos to explore outdoors. One way to tie in outdoor learning with your toddler and preschool centers is to go on a leaf hunt and then compare them with these fun playdough leaf mats.
Free Printable Christmas Playdough Mats For Toddlers
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Your toddlers (and preschoolers) will love playing with these festive Christmas playdough mats.
Put some holiday music on and make some peppermint scented playdough to really bring on the holiday cheer!
Shape Playdough Mats
These shapes playdough mats are perfect for toddlers, as they are basic with a simplicity that will allow your youngest learners to explore and start to get familiar with the most common shapes.
Monster Playdough Mats
These silly monster playdough mats are so adorable that they give monsters a good name! Kids will love creating their very own lovable playdough monster friends!
They have the cutest monster faces that will make toddlers giggle with delight.
Best Playdough Recipes
When it comes to homemade playdough recipes, there isn’t just one secret to success. There are so many variations! You most likely have your favorites and go-to’s.
But, there are so many options that you can curtail your recipe choices based on the activity, theme, or even your mood! Have fun exploring some of my tried-and-true favorites!
Playdough Recipe Without Cream of Tarter
No-cook playdough recipe that is easy to make and the perfect consistency? Yes, please!!
This is my all-time favorite and most popular playdough recipe! I love this playdough recipe because it is quick, easy, and turns out perfectly every time. It also has the excellent consistency for hand-strengthening.
This no-cook playdough recipe without cream of tartar is absolutely perfect.
Cooked Playdough Recipe
This is an oldie, but goodie. You know how sometimes the classics are, well, simply the best? When it comes to cooked playdough recipes, this one takes the cake…..or, the dough, rather.
This cooked playdough recipe turns out perfectly every time, which is why it is completely fail-proof! Every time! This old recipe is still trending because it is tried and true.
And, like I mentioned, it turns out every. single. time.
Scented Playdough Recipe
Watermelon-scented playdough for summer and perfectly pumpkin spice playdough for fall. Aromatic essential oils, kool-aid, coffee beans and other common household products can make playdough a delight to all your senses!
Certain scents even have the power to make kids feel happy, calm, and even more imaginative! Is this scented playdough magical, or what?
Edible Playdough Recipe
How many times as parents or teachers do we say (usually quite emphatically), “Don’t put that in your mouth” or “Don’t eat that!!” And, usually, this scenario holds true with playdough. With one exception.
I present to you…the exception to the “don’t put that in your mouth” rule in the playdough world. Yes, edible playdough is a real thing!
It is made from just a few basic ingredients….the main one being marshmallows!
As you might expect, this playdough is stretchhhy….but it does hold its shape.
Free Printable Playdough Mats
Playdough is fun. Few in the early childhood field would dispute this fact.
By its very nature, it is also chalk-full of learning opportunities and skills practice.
Elevate your playdough time to a new level with some awesome and engaging playdough mats.
With so many themes and skills, these playdough mats will keep your little ones engaged and learning for a very long time.
Cactus Number Playdough Mats
Which type of number playdough mats would you expect to see in the desert?
If you guessed ones with a cactus theme...you are absolutely correct!
These cactus math learning mats are fantastic, fun, and a great way to practice number sense.
Rolling and shaping the playdough to make the numbers serves as excellent fine motor practice and strengthens little hands.
Be sure to make these a part of your desert lesson plans!
Iconic Scenes Christmas Playdough Mats
These beautiful winter scenes playdough mats are sure to be a big favorite in your household or classroom.
Children will enjoy decorating these cards with playdough and can add much to these wintry scenes.
Tis' the season for fine motor fun! This one is nostalgic, for sure!
Alphabet and Number Playdough Mats
Alphabet and Number printable playdough mats are packed with so much learning and fun!
Included in the alphabet printables, you will find LARGE uppercase and lowercase letters and fun corresponding pictures to help teach letter sounds.
In the number mats, you get a LARGE numeral, the corresponding number word, and built-in playdough counting practice.
How can one set of printables offer so much learning in one place? This one will get a lot of use in your preschool classrooms and homes!
FREE Printable Playdough Mats
If you are looking for some awesome early childhood playdough mats to cover seasonal themes, special interest themes, and help teach a huge range of preschool skills, this is the right bundle for you!
There are so many adorable playdough mats that teach skills like number sense, counting, letter recognition and formation, shapes, patterns, and so much more!
This is like your one-stop-shop for all things playdough-tastic!
Space Playdough Mat Printable
These space playdough mat printables will take you to a galaxy far, far away.
Most preschoolers love learning about outer space and the mysteries that go with it.
These playdough mats will allow children to use their imaginations to create rockets ships, planets, stars, and whatever else they think they might find in outer space.
3, 2, 1, blast off into some extra-terrestrial playdough-filled fun!
Beautiful Bugs Playdough Mats
Bugs CAN be beautiful....I suppose. That is, if they are the kinds you find crawling in your imagination and not across your kitchen floor.
Preschoolers love learning about creepy-crawlies. With bug-themed playdough mats, preschoolers can buzz into some insect-filled learning.
And, I promise...these bugs are 100 % adorable and 0 % creepy crawly!
14 Emotions Playdough Mats
Navigating emotions can be a very tricky thing when you are a child.
Helping kids explore their feelings and emotions through play and social stories can be very beneficial.
These darling emotions playdough mats include a variety of children and the words "I feel..." (fill in an emotion like sad, happy, surprised, etc.).
These playdough mats will likely require more guidance than some of the others but can easily be used one-on-one or in small groups to help teach about different emotions we all experience.
Printable Playdough Mats for Preschool
Having a large array of thematic playdough mats is super beneficial when it comes to planning preschool units of study.
I love that this bundle of playdough mat printables offers a unique selection.
From a turtle and a house, to a sailboat, flower, and even pizza...these adorable playdough mats offer something for everyone.
They also are set up for the children to add details to an already-designed picture, which allows for creativity in a different way than a playdough mat that is solely a background scene.
I also love that these all have a simple sentence on top that says, "I can make a..." (butterfly, turtle, house, etc.).
Fall Playdough Mats
Pumpkin spice is in the air, and it is time for all things fall fun to hit your preschool classroom.
You absolutely need to incorporate these adorable fall playdough mats into your fall lesson planning.
Pumpkins and trees and many other fall items are waiting to be decorated with playdough.
Perhaps you could even provide some other materials, too, like acorns and small leaves to add to the mats along with the playdough.
Fall fun is definitely in the air!
Alphabet and Number Winter Literacy Mats
Winter is a time for hot cocoa and fun, hands-on indoor activities.
All the better if these activities have a cute winter theme, like these alphabet and number winter literacy mats!
The icy winter scene, coupled with large numbers and letters, is inviting preschoolers to bring their best playdough work to these mats.
I love when you can combine so many things into one set- letters, numbers, winter concepts, and lots of fine motor fun!
Spring Themed Play Dough Mats
Birds chirping, flowers growing, and butterflies flapping their beautiful wings so majestically....it must be spring!
And, springtime calls for bright, fun spring themed playdough mats. These playdough mats are joyful and hopeful, like springtime itself.
Grab an assortment of your brightest playdough colors and let your preschoolers create their perfect spring-themed masterpieces!
Summer Playdough Mats
Flip flops, sunshine, beach balls, and watermelon...it's summertime which means it's time for fun!
How about some summer-themed playdough fun?
These summer playdough mats have iconic images that represent all things summer.
They are perfect for a summer theme at the end of the year in preschool, or for fun at home during those dog days of summer.
And, please, do yourself a favor and use some homemade watermelon-scented playdough to make these playdough mats even more summer-tastic!
Farmyard Play Dough Counting Mats
These fam playdough math mats have to be just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.
They are the perfect addition to your farm theme.
You preschoolers will be so eager practice their numbers and counting "down on the farm".
The only problem is they will love it so much that they might not want to moooove on to any other activities!
Shape Playdough Mats
Shapes are everywhere, and preschoolers love finding them, recognizing them, and learning to make them.
What better way to learn about shapes than by building them using shape playdough mats?
These shape mats offer practice with all the basic 2D shapes: circle, triangle, square, oval, rectangle, rhombus, star and heart.
They will certainly shape up to be a favorite playdough activity in your pre-K classroom!
FREE Printable Playdough Mats for Kids
Oh my, what a menagerie of playdough fun!!!
These printable playdough mats for kids include some of the most unique and fun themes out there!
Musical instruments made out of playdough? Yes, please!
Playdough tools and transportation? Sign me up!
We can't forget about the pets, princesses, and delicious scoops of playdough ice cream!
This bundle of playdough fun is truly a gem. Don't miss out on these amazing, engaging, and educational preschool playdough mats!
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45 Playdough Recipes$10.00
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
