Halloween Alphabet Play Dough Mats
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Halloween is such a fun holiday, especially for kids. It’s a day dedicated to playing dress up and getting to walk around and collect candy from anyone and everyone. It is literally a kid’s dream holiday! I personally always loved Christmas better but my daughter would take 1000 Halloweens if it was acceptable! That is why these free Halloween Alphabet Play Dough Mats have a perfect theme to help motivate kids to practice their letters. The cute Halloween pictures paired with the big bubble letters make this activity super engaging and fun!
*Pair this with our Halloween Centers and Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten!
Halloween Alphabet Play Dough Mats
We all know that repetition is the key to learning a new concept 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 like 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 bubble letters in this activity show both uppercase and lowercase versions. This is perfect for kids who are just being introduced to the alphabet 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!
How to Prep
To begin, I like to print the letter pages and laminate each sheet. Laminating will help extend the life of the play dough mats so they can be used for years to come. Without laminating, the play dough will most likely stick to the paper and the mats will only be good as a single use activity.
Another option instead of laminating, is to slip the sheets inside dry erase pocket sleeves. This makes the activity reusable and you can just switch out the lettter pages as needed. It’s a great option for both home and in the classroom!
Helpful Tip: If you are preparing this activity for home use, you could laminate the pages back to back to save on lamination.
Ways To Play
- Fill in the letters completely with play dough.
- Use different colors of play dough in each letter.
- Create balls of play dough to make dotted lines through the letter.
- Create snakes with the play dough to ‘write’ the letters.
I also like to give my kids play dough tools to help make fun shapes to fill in the letters.
More Ways to use the Alphabet Mats
These alphabet mats are not limited to just play dough. You can also fill in the letters with other fun manipulatives like pom poms, pipe cleaners, mini-erasers, or sequins.
RELATED RESOURCE: Alphabet Centers and Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten
For a single use activity kids can color or paint the letters. If the alphabet mats are laminated, give your kids dry erase markers and they can practice writing the letters.
Benefits of Play Dough and Alphabet Mats:
- 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.
- It encourages development of hand-eye coordination.
- This is an excellent sensory play activity.
- Play dough increases creativity and imagination.
- These alphabet play dough mats will help with letter recognition and letter formation.
- These mats can be a fun way to introduce beginning sounds.
Grab Your FREE Set
Ready to play and learn? Grab some play dough and print your free copy of the Halloween Alphabet Play Dough Mats by clicking the large, yellow download button at the end of the post!
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