Free Snowman Shape Playdough Mats for Preschoolers

We love using play dough at my house!  Using play dough mats has become a regular activity in my home for many reasons.  Play dough mats require a minimal amount of materials, are super simple to prepare, are awesome for hands on learning, and provide hours of entertainment and fun!  These Free Printable Snowman Shape Playdough Mats for Preschoolers are the perfect way to practice shapes while working on strengthening fine motor skills at the same time.

These play dough mats are one of my favorite winter math activities for preschoolers.  As you work on writing your winter lesson plans for preschool, this shape mat activity is one you will want to be sure to include!

I’m sure it will become one of your favorite winter activities for preschoolers too! The super cute snowmen make it a great addition to your winter theme for preschool.

Teaching Shapes To Preschoolers:

There are many reasons to teach shapes to preschoolers!

Since they are so fun to teach, and children love them, they are a great place to start with preschool and early childhood math.  Being able to identify shapes is one of the foundational steps of geometry.

Although we may not typically associate math and reading together, knowing shapes can be very beneficial for young readers!  

The alphabet is full of shapes and lines, and knowing different shapes can help children to differentiate between letters and start to draw them.  

Shape activities for preschoolers can help with vocabulary development and can give children some basic words they can use to describe objects.

Learning shapes can also strengthen spatial reasoning and problem solving skills.  

Wow!  Who knew there were so many benefits to learning about shapes!

How To Use This Snowman Shape Printable Activity:

Play Dough is a perfect tool for so many activities. We have used play dough to help create letters and numbers but this time we’re creating shapes.

What Do I Need for the Snowman Shape Play Dough Mats?

To Prep: The prep for this snowman theme activity is super easy! Print out the free printable shape for preschool mats. If choosing to laminate, you can do that now.

If you aren’t able to laminate, you can use dry erase pouches instead. If planning on using the pouches, slide the Snowman Shape Play Dough Mats into the pockets.

Get out your play dough, and you are ready to go!

Each snowman mat has a different shape for your child to practice making with their play dough.  

They can completely cover the snowman with their play dough to form the shape, or they can create the border of the shape using the play dough.

Once they have completed one mat they clear it and start working on the next shape!

Ask your child questions as you work on the shape mats together!

• What shape do you see?
• How many sides does this shape have?
• Do you know anything at our house that is the same shape as this?
• What letters do you see in the name of the shape?
• Do you the sound the first letter of that word makes?

Other Ways To Use These 2D Shape Playdough Mats:

• Once the play dough is in the shape, ask children to use the play dough tools to ‘decorate’ or create patterns on the shape.
• Encourage child to use other colors of play dough to create faces and accessories for the snowmen.
• If you laminate the the preschool shape worksheets you can use them with a dry erase marker to practice tracing the shape and writing the shape word.
• Use wiki sticks to create the shape if you don’t have play dough.
• Yard sale dot stickers also work great for creating the outline of the shape.  Just peel and stick the circles onto the border of the shape for another good fine motor activity.
• After you create the shapes with play dough have your child draw it in the air with their finger.
• Use the play dough of other colors to create accessories for the snowman.  This can be another great way to practice naming shapes.  Can you make circle eyes or create a triangle nose? Can you make a square hat?
• Have your child decorate each play dough shape with beads, foam shapes, sequins, etc.

We have a ton of fun with these play dough mats. Even though we like to use play dough on it’s own, these play dough mats are an easy way to encourage children to learn while they play!