Christmas Play Dough Mats

Play dough is a staple in every preschool classroom.  We make a new batch every month, and usually color and/or flavor it to suit the season.  This month, it's flavored with cinnamon and ginger.  Yum.

Our typical play dough center consists of rolling pins, plastic knives and cookie cutters.  In addition to being a fun sensory experience, working with play dough increases hand strength and improves fine motor skills.  I also love the conversations that occur when children sit together with busy hands!

I recently found these fantastic Christmas play dough mats on TpT.  The kiddos tried them out today and they were a big hit!  Some of the mats encourage them to roll out "snakes" and form the letters for Christmas words: light, Santa, tree, elf, etc.

Other mats are for practicing numbers.  I had a basket of laminated number squares.  The kiddos picked a number and then created play dough pieces to match.  They made buttons for the gingerbread man:

 and presents for Santa's sleigh:

I love that, even after more than 8 years, I can still find new and interesting ways to play and learn with my students!