It’s getting colder – time to dig out those scarves and gloves! But if you fancied staying in for some learning, why not check out this winter forest playdough mat? It’s super simple to prep and can provide hours of hands-on fun!
Anyone want to build a snowman?
Playdough mats are a brilliant way to bring topics to life and a great way for your little learners to really get stuck in to their learning.
Playing with playdough has been shown to have so many amazing benefits for children, as well as being fun, it’s a great way to develop fine motor skills and creativity.
PS, if you don’t have any playdough to hand, or your supplies are running low, here’s a super easy, no-cook playdough recipe that’s worth checking out.
If you think your little ones would like some more fwinter fun you can check out some more activities here, or if it’s dough you’re after, there’s more playdough mats here.
What Skills Can Your Children Learn And Practice?
When playing with this winter playdough mat, your little learners will have the chance to practice and develop some early skills such as:
- Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination – when they are molding the playdough into snowmen or giant snowballs, they will have to use these skills to ensure they make the correct shapes
- Hand strength and dexterity – playing with playdough can be a great way to improve these important pre-writing skills
- Imagination / Creativity – because playing with playdough is so open ended, it really allows children to explore their own ideas
- Social skills – if they’re using playdough in the classroom or with their friends or family, then turn taking with equipment and sharing dough can be a great way to develop these skills
- Speech and language – When children are playing with playdough, they often describe what they are making or create a story to go along with their creations.
How To Prepare This Simple Winter Playdough Mat
What you’ll need:
- Printable winter forest playdough mat (click on the download box at the bottom of the page)
- Playdough (if you fancy making your own with your little ones, you can find a cheap and very easy no-cook recipe here)
There’s no cutting involved here unless you want to trim around the edges of the mats.
Once you’ve downloaded it, you’ll just need to print it off onto paper or card.
Then you’ll probably want to laminate them to ensure they don’t get ruined by the dough.
After that you’re all done!
Let your kids’ imagination run wild in a fun doughy way!
