These forest animal playdough mats will fit right into your next forest or woodland animal theme! Be sure to check out our other playdough mats when you’re done here.
This set of forest playdough mats are not only engaging, but they’re also great for practicing a variety of preschool skills. Fine motor skills, especially. Playdough is such a great tool for practicing these super-important skills! But combining dry erase markers, stickers, or any other type of manipulative with the printable mats will help build fine motor coordination just as well.
On top of that, kids will have the opportunity to explore both early literacy and early math concepts. So much learning wrapped up in one (extremely versatile) set of forest animal mats!
Related: Free Preschool Printables
We know the kids will be able to practice a variety of skills with this free printable. But they’ll also get the chance to find out more about forest animals.
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post and sign up to get your own copy of the forest animal playdough mats!
Forest Animal Playdough Mats
I’m not sure about the kids in your life, but my students have always adored both playdough and animals. So I think it’s safe to say the forest animal playdough mats are sure to be a hit in your preschool class!
How to Prep the Forest Play Dough Mats
Setting up the forest playdough mats is actually really simple. Especially considering all of the different activities you can use them for.
First, you’ll need to gather all of the necessary supplies. The full materials list will depend on how you intend on using the mats. But to prep and use the mats with playdough, as the name suggests, you’ll only need a few things. (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.)
Now, using the forest animal mats with playdough is one option. But there are many others. Here are a few other materials you can use them with:
Take a look at some of my favorite ways to use the forest animal playdough mats. Then you can come back to this list of materials and decide what you need. Or, better yet, check through your classroom supply closet for inspiration!
How to Use the Forest Animal Playdough Mats
Now it’s time for the fun part – playing! Like I said, there are lots of ways to put these mats to work in the classroom. Here are some of my favorite ways.
The first, and most obvious, way to use the mats is with playdough. Let each student have a container of dough and a mat. Perhaps you want them to use the dough to create the shape of the animal first. Then, let them create as they see fit.
Some children might choose to mold silly faces on the animals. Others might create capes and masks to make super-animals! And some might even use the playdough to build a 3D version of their animal.
Playdough is such a fun material to use with preschool-aged children. It’s an interesting texture that changes temperature with use. It’s colorful and moldable. There are so many ways to use play dough – especially with the mats!
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how creative the kids can get with these two simple items.
Even More Ideas for the Forest-Themed Fine Motor Mats
Even though I refer to them as forest animal playdough mats, you don’t have to just use play dough. Here are a few more ways the kids can use this free printable:
- Have your students press glass gems, or other loose parts, into the play dough once the forest animals have been created. This works on strengthening finger muscles and provides different sensory input.
- Forgo the playdough altogether and let the kids use math manipulatives to trace over the images on the mats. Encourage the children to count how many items cover each picture.
- Let the children trace over the images with dry erase markers if they’d like to.
- Ask the students to build three-dimensional versions of the forest animals on the mats. They can use play dough, air dry clay, or regular clay.
- Keep the mats as story starters in your writing center. Students write their own forest animal stories, copying the sentences as desired.
- If you have a set of the forest animal pages that aren’t laminated, let the kids use stickers to trace over the pictures. This provides a double whammy of fine motor skills between peeling the stickers off the page and placing them on the forest animal.
You and your students can come up with even more ways to use the forest playdough mats, I’m sure!
What Comes in the Forest Animal Printable
The forest animal playdough mats free printable includes 10 different animals. Each of the pages includes the same sentence format, “The (animal) lives in the forest.”
Here are the animals included in the printable mats:
- Bear
- Deer
- Fox
- Owl
- Rabbit
- Squirrel
- Moose
- Racoon
- Mouse
- Skunk
Don’t forget to request your own copy of the forest printable at the bottom of this post!
More Forest Activities for Kids
If your students enjoyed the forest animal playdough mats, they’ll enjoy these activities, too:
Or grab a few forest-themed books to read with the kids:
- National Geographic Reader: In the Forest
- Tall Tall Tree: A Nature Book for Kids About Forest Habitats
- A Walk Through the Woods
- Over in the Forest: A Woodland Animal Nature Book
- Nuts to You
Fine Motor Playdough Mats
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If the forest animal playdough mats are a hit in your classroom, this big bundle of themed play dough mats is a must-have. Click on the link to grab it:
Here are a few more resources you might like! Click on the images below to check them out:
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Get the Forest Animal Playdough Mats
This free printable is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s free email community. If you’re a member, fill out the form below and the download links will be sent to your inbox. If you’re not a member, you can join us by entering your information in the form. Then you’ll receive the printable as a welcome gift!
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