Play Dough Mats

This activity is an old but favourite of mine. I think play dough can be great for relieving frustration for children and adults. It can instantly calm a hyperactive child and helps children to express themselves. I used to have great fun making these mats to help support children's learning. For example making a mat of a crocodile with no teeth will allow opportunities for counting and discussions on dental health.

P Loved decorating the fish mat with fins, an eye and mouth. she then took it all again to give the fish scales and then put the other pieces back on again. She had to think about the shape of each part of the fish.

I used the plain sea mat as a chance to discuss with P what lives under the sea. She came up with fish, crabs and snail. I suggested sharks, dolphins and jelly fish. P had ago at drawing most of them. When then went on to talk about how we could move under the sea which is what gave P the idea of making a submarine.  The activity  lends to fine motor skills, encouraging P to press, pinch and join the play dough together.

To make your own playdough mats simply use coloured paper to decorate a back ground and then laminate it. This will make it easy to wipe down and reuse the mat.