These camping playdough mats let children get creative as they practice fine motor skills. If your students love them, be sure to check out the rest of our playdough mats next.
This free printable is so low-prep, you can have it ready for your students tomorrow! There are a few different ways to use the camping fine motor mats, too. This allows you to change things up based on the needs and interests of your students.
And the camping play dough mats integrate math and literacy alongside fine motor skills. Quite a bit of learning to be had in one little printable.
Related: Free Preschool Printables
Read below for prepping tips and ideas for using the free printable camping mats with your students. As always, keep in mind that you can change things up based on what’s best for you and the kids!
After you read through all of the information below, make sure you get your own copy of the printable near the bottom of this post.
Camping Playdough Mats
I like using printables like this for a variety of reasons. They can be easily integrated into preschool themes, they’re multi-functional, and they inspire the kids to get creative. Plus, they’re packed with learning opportunities for children to find.
Prepping the Camping Printable Play Dough Mats
Start off by grabbing the supplies you’ll need. Here are some suggestions (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):
- Printer
- Dry erase pockets
- Laminator (optional)
- Play dough
- Small manipulatives (like glass gems or Unifix cubes)
Once you have the materials all ready to go, it’s time to prep the camping playdough mats. And there’s really not much to it:
- First, request the printable at the bottom of this post.
- Save it to your computer.
- Then print the mats you’d like to use.
- Finally, laminate the pages or place them in dry erase pockets.
And that’s all there is! Now it’s time to call the children over and get to all the play dough fun.
How to Use the Camping Playdough Mats
Well, the most basic way to use these camping-themed play dough mats is as follows:
- Place the mats out on a table.
- Put play dough out on the table as well.
- Let the kids have at it.
And, really, that’s the basic idea, right? Offer the materials to your students and allow them to play and create as they see fit. Within basic classroom expectations, of course.
Even with that, your students are going to use the camping playdough mats in a variety of ways. Some will make “snakes” out of the dough and use them to create the images on the maps. Some children will smoosh blobs of playdough onto the images. And still others will create something completely different with the dough.
More Ideas for the Camping Fine Motor Mats
Of course, there’s even more uses beyond that! Here are a few more ideas to consider:
- Place small manipulatives, like glass gems, out with the camping playdough mats. Have the kids trace over the images on the mats with the manipulatives.
- Encourage the children to press loose parts into the play dough on the mats.
- Challenge the students to count all of the items used on the mats.
- Let the children use dry erase markers to trace over the pictures.
- Ask the children to make their own versions of the images using play dough, craft supplies, and loose parts.
That being said, I am SURE your students will come up with some new ways to interact with the camping playdough mats. I love watching the kids’ creativity come into play!
What Comes in the Playdough Mat Printable?
There are 8 color pages in this camping playdough mats freebie. They include a:
- Campfire
- Marshmallow
- Tent
- Hot dog
- Lantern
- Flashlight
- Sleeping bag
- Log
Each page has the same sentence structure of, “This is the . . .” which can help your pre- and beginning readers explore literacy concepts.
More Camping Activities for Kids
Here are some additional ideas to try with your students:
I think those activities will pair well with the camping playdough mats during your next preschool camping theme!
Preschool Playdough Mats
Let Preschool Teacher 101 make your teaching life a lot easier with done-for-you early childhood resources. We have hundreds of products, ranging from lesson plans to dramatic play sets to STEM challenges to so much more!
And be sure to check out The Pack, our membership for preschool and kindergarten teachers. Members have access to our products at a very steep discount.
Our big non-seasonal play dough mats bundle is sure to be a hit if the kids loved the camping playdough mats! It has over 140 pages of play dough fun, with a variety of themes to choose from. Click on the image below to get your own:
We also have camping-themed products that will save you a ton of planning time. Click on the images below to get them:
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers, if that’s your preference.
Get the Free Printable Camping Playdough Mats
As promised, here’s where you can request the download link for the camping-themed play dough printable. It’s available to members of Fun-A-Day’s email community. If that’s you, please enter your email in the form below to have the link sent to your inbox. If you’re not a part of the email community, you can enter your information in the same form to join us. Then you’ll receive the camping playdough mats as a welcome gift!
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