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Playdough Mats

9 free PDFsUS Letter or A4No login

Wide lanes to fill with rolled playdough snakes, and big circles for playdough balls: shapes, lines, a rainbow, a sun and a caterpillar.

Download the playdough mats worksheets

Shape playdough mats

Lines and pictures

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these playdough mats worksheets

Rolling, squeezing and pressing playdough is one of the best ways to build the hand strength children need for holding a crayon and using scissors. These printable playdough mats give that play a goal.

Each mat has wide lanes, about the width of a rolled snake. Children roll snakes and press them along the lanes to build a circle, square, triangle, heart or star, or to make straight, wavy, zigzag and curved lines. The rainbow takes four snakes, the sun one long snake and eight short rays, and the caterpillar six balls, numbered so children count as they go.

Laminate the mats or slip them into sheet protectors so they last. They also work with buttons, pom-poms or a dry-erase marker.

Standards

  • ELOF P-PMP 3Child demonstrates increasing control, strength, and coordination of small muscles.
  • ELOF P-MATH 9Child identifies, describes, compares, and composes shapes.
  • ELOF P-MATH 2Child recognizes the number of objects in a small set.

How to use them

  1. Laminate or use a sheet protector, then give a ball of playdough about the size of a lemon.
  2. Show how to roll a snake with flat hands, back and forth on the table.
  3. Press the snake along the lane, pinching off extra at the end.
  4. On the caterpillar, roll six balls and count them as they go in.

Teaching tips

  • Short, fat snakes are easier than long thin ones. Join two short snakes if one breaks.
  • Trace the lane with a finger first to learn the shape, then fill it.
  • Rolling small balls between the fingertips strengthens the fingers used to hold a pencil.

Questions teachers and parents ask

How do I make playdough mats last?

Laminate them or put each page in a clear sheet protector. Wipe them clean with a damp cloth.

What can children use besides playdough?

Buttons, pom-poms, small blocks, beads, or a dry-erase marker on a laminated mat.

What skills do playdough mats build?

Hand and finger strength, two-handed rolling, shapes, and counting on the caterpillar mat.