Alphabet playdough mats are a wonderful teaching tool to use with children. Whether you are using them with toddlers or preschoolers to introduce letters or with students in kindergarten or early elementary to help reinforce the letters and their sound, learning through play is the most effective way.
When we first brought home two of our kids from Ethiopia, not only were they trying to learn a new language, they were trying to learn a new alphabet. I tried all of the usual methods to no avail. My kids weren’t making any progress.
It was then that I decided to try a more sensory rich approach. A big part of that was using playdough mats. We also used salt trays and sensory bins. That made all the difference!
When using playdough mats, kids can shape the dough into the desired letter which provides a sensory experience and reinforces what they are learning. In addition, they are receiving visual cues. They can also use their finger to trace the letter or can draw the shape with a dry erase marker.
How to use alphabet playdough mats:
- Print off the Transportation Alphabet Playdough Mats.
- Laminate the pages or place them into a plastic sheet protector.
- Have the child trace the letter with their finger as they say the name of the letter.
- Set out some playdough. You can find our favourite homemade playdough recipe here.
- They can then shape the playdough to form each letter of the alphabet and place it on the corresponding playdough mat.
- Have the child say the name of the transportation example that begins with that letter so that they can practise the sound each letter makes.
Ways to expand on this activity:
- Use dry erase markers to trace inside the letter or colour the letter in.
- Name words that start with that letter.
- Set out cookie cutters in the shape of the letters. The child can then use that to press into the dough and reinforce learning of each letter.
- Put out alphabet stamps which can be used to stamp impressions into the playdough.
- Use slime instead of playdough to shape the letters.
- Fill the letters with stickers.
- Use bingo dabbers.
- Make a collage of things that start with each letter and glue them on the plastic sleeve around the letter.
The benefits of using these playdough mats printable worksheets:
- reinforcing the ABCs.
- practise fine motor skills.
- get visual, tactile, and proprioceptive sensory input (olfactory too if you use scented playdough!).
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Check out some of our other free playdough mats for kids:
Game Play Variation:
Allowing kids to get used to talking about their emotions through opportunities such as this game, you normalize it. Kids learn best through play. Particularly when it comes to discussing hard topics, play allows kids to let down their walls and open up.
Sensory and Learning Opportunities:
Playing with playdough also lays foundation for concepts of engineering by allowing children to build and design something that solves a problem. In this case, the problem is how to create a manger scene or tell a story using the materials in front of them.
You can use the dinosaur action cube indoors or outdoors. Kids of many ages can participate. This is a fun rainy day or snow day activity because it gets the whole body engaged. Kids explore their movements and imaginations as they hatch, tromp, charge, fly, and munch like the dinosaurs of the past.
You can also take the activity one step further by having them read about each of the dinosaur types on the cube or having them draw that species. There are so many possibilities.
I enjoyed seeing my kids’ interpretations of the dinosaurs. Some kids also like to add their own sound effects. We may not know exactly what dinosaurs sounded like, but my kids did some pretty convincing impressions!
Practising gratitude sets the stage for a happier life. 
This game can be played with 2-4 players at a time.
Assembly instructions:
Game Directions:
It may be hard for some children (depending on their age and developmental abilities) to think of things in each category to be grateful for. You can help by proving prompts or examples of your own.
The games can be played a couple of different ways. You can create teams and have a member from each team go head to head against each other or you can play as individuals in a “beat the clock” type of fashion.
The object of this game is to retrieve all the pumpkins out of your pie. To set up, place candy pumpkins on the bottom of each pie plate. Cover with whipping cream. Each player sits with their hands behind their backs and has to find the pumpkins and move them out of the pie using only their mouth.
In this game, players need to attempt to keep their feather in the air for a full minute by blowing it up. It’s harder than it sounds. If a player’s feather touches the ground or a surface, they are out of the game.
To set this game up, pour some pumpkin seeds onto a paper plate for each player. Set that down next to an empty plate. To play, each person puts a straw in their mouth and attempts to transfer all the pumpkin seeds to the empty plate in less than one minute. If you’re playing head to head, then then the person who transfers all of their pumpkin seeds the fastest is the winner.
Place one candy pumpkin (or candy corn) on a spoon. Have players race holding onto their spoon with one hand (you can allow younger kids to use both hands). If their candy drops off, they are eliminated or have to start back at the beginning.
Give each person a turkey baster and balloon. The goal of this Minute to Win It challenge is to get the balloon across the table lengthwise using only the air from the turkey baster. You are not allowed to touch the balloon with the turkey baster. This can be played to beat the one minute timer or played head to head with the winner earning one point for their team.
