Halloween is such a fun holiday, especially for kids. It’s a full day dedicated to playing dress up in the best way, which is fun on it’s own. It doesn’t end with that, though! In their best dress up they get to walk around and get candy from anyone and everyone. It is literally a kids dream holiday! I personally always loved Christmas better but my daughter would take 1000 Halloweens if it was acceptable! That is why these Halloween Full Alphabet Play Dough Mats have a perfect theme to help motivate kids to practice their ABCs! The fun Halloween pictures paired with the big bubble letters make this activity a perfect play dough mat set!

*Pair this with our Halloween Centers and Activities for Pre-K and Kindergarten!

Halloween ABC Play Dough Mats

Benefits Of Play Dough Mats

We all know that repetition is the key to learning an idea and actually remembering it. Kids can easily get bored, though. That is why providing exciting activities that may include an element that they already enjoy, like play dough, will help encourage them to practice a skill without feeling they are working.

Kids can play with these play dough mats over and over and never feel like they are ‘learning’, when in reality they are learning so much!

The upper and lowercase letters in this activity are bubble letters which helps kids learn both upper and lowercase letters! This is perfect for kids who are just being introduced to the letters or for kids who may need a little extra practice.

Play dough mats also help strengthen fine motor skills. Kids are manipulating the play dough to fit into the letters, which is fantastic for strengthening those finger muscles!

The sensory aspect of these play dough mats are absolutely perfect for helping reduce stress and anxiety in children. Molding play dough has been shown to be therapeutic in many ways.

This is fantastic for incorporating into the week of Halloween. It is a fun theme which helps the kids feel in the ‘holiday spirit’ but there are enough learning aspects to the activity that you don’t feel like you are allowing them to ‘just play’.

RELATED RESOURCE: Halloween Writing Center Activities

Preparing This Halloween Activity

The materials list for this ABC activity is not extensive. Like I said, it is simple.

I like to print each letter page and laminate each sheet. Lamination will help extend the life of the play dough mats so they can be used for years to come. Without lamination, the play dough will most likely stick to the paper and the activity will become one use only.

Money Saving Tips: If you are preparing this activity for home use, you could easily laminate the pages back to back to save on lamination.

Another option to save on lamination is to use the sheets inside dry erase pouches. You can slide each sheet into one of the pouches and switch it out as necessary. This can be great in the home or in the classroom!

How To Use With Play Dough

• The letters can be filled in completely with play dough.
• Use different colors of play dough in each letter.
• Children can create balls of play dough to make dotted lines through the letter.
• Create snakes with the play dough to ‘write’ the letters.
• Play Dough Tools are also fantastic for this activity.

Alternative Play Ideas:

These ABC Mats are not limited to only play dough. You can also use other objects to fill the letters. For instance:

• Pom Poms
• Dry Erase Markers
• Pipe Cleaners
• Gems
• Mini Erasers
• Sequins
• One Time Use: Children could color or paint the letters

More Benefits of Play Dough in the Classroom:

• Play dough is a fantastic way to strengthen fine motor skills, which helps with pre-writing skills.
• Play dough can be calming and stress relieving.
• Encourages development of hand-eye coordination.
• Excellent sensory play activity.
• Increases creativity and imagination.
• Will help with letter recognition and letter formation.
• Is a fun way to introduce beginning sounds.

Grab Your Set

Ready to play and learn? Grab some play dough and print your copy of the Halloween Alphabet Play Dough Mats by clicking the large, blue button at the very end of the post.

Then, hop on over to see our FREE Halloween Beginning Sounds Activity!

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Shauna

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