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Monday, March 26, 2012

DIY Play Doh Mats


Play Doh is a great medium that increases the muscle strength in the fingers and hands.  The motor skills used while playing with play doh later translate into increased dexterity, writing skills, and self-help skills (like opening containers, tying shoes, etc). 

My son shows NO interest in letters, but he loves numbers and likes to count everything.  I made these 'do it yourself' play doh mats for him today.  It took two days for him to visit the invitation, but once he did - he loved it. 

THINGS YOU NEED:
- white paper (I used card stock)
- stamp pad
- play doh 'cookie cutters'
- laminate and laminator

I stamped on the numbers and shapes, but you could also just trace them.  There are so many things you can reinforce with DIY Play Doh mats. 
  • number or letter recognition
  • simple matching (shapes, animals, etc)
  • math (counting, addition, subtraction, etc)
  • name recognition and spelling
  • spelling sight words
  • etc etc etc
Click HERE for a letter/number play doh set.

 







FUN!  
I will add pics to this post if my son ever shows interest in letters. 

- AK (MESE, MECD)

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9 comments:

  1. more playdough!! I love ideas on new stuff to do with playdough...we have tons and I am allways short on ideas!

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  2. Another great idea! I found this post last week and we made our own. Our 4 yr. old got a kick out of giving his uncle yellow spiky hair.

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  3. Oops forgot the link ;-)
    http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2012/02/playdough-play-mats-silly-hairdos.html

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  4. I made matching mats for the tub since my three year old loves those pellets that dissolve into sponge animals. Instead of laminating though, I just stuck it inside a gallon ziploc so I can swap them out when she gets new animals. I wonder if that would work here too. I can't wait to do this with the letters and the photos for crazy hair! She's going to love it!

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  5. Great learning activity with a specific objective! I do not own a laminator, so I will slip the traced sheets into a gallon zip top bag and then I can store multiple sheets in one place. Thanks for the starting point! Great idea!

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  6. great idea! quick and simple thank you x

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  7. Fun! I did something similar. A tupperware with objects and traced the objects onto paper as a matching game. Don't worry on the letters. Logan finally gained interest, mastered them in a few weeks, and moved on. And now he's still back to numbers. he reads books if they involve numbers. Like Pokemon- which is essentially one giant math game. He's 8. Love your website!

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