Back to School with Playdoh

School is just RIGHT around the corner!!! And, like every year…I’m starting it off with Playdoh!!

EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR that I have taught (this year will make 13! WHOA!) I have started our first day with Playdoh.

I love putting out containers of Playdoh on my kiddo’s tables on the first day of Kindergarten! I feel like it puts them more at ease, gives them a feeling of “Hey, Kindergarten’s not so scary…it’s fun”. Because, well, let’s face it….everybody loves Playdoh!!!

Last year I had an idea. I wanted to give it an extra little something. Something to make it just a little bit more fun and Special!!! Because EVERYONE should feel extra special on their first day of Kindergarten, right???

So, last year I made these little Playdoh labels. They were a HUGE hit!!! You can pick them up for FREEEEEEE in my TPT store HERE!!!!!

Well, this year, I also decided that I wanted to make some Playdoh mats to start off in our centers. Playdoh is just FUN!!!! Hence the name, PLAYdoh. We all know that the word PLAY is missing WAY too often in our highly academic Kindergarten classrooms!!! What an easy way to incorporate play into our learning!

Playdoh mats are a fun way for students to practice letter identification, letter formation, letter sounds, and builds fine motor skills at the same time!

These mats are perfect for literacy centers, Daily 5 word work center, playdoh center, or use for small group.

I love how these mats turned out!! Every mat has a capital and lowercase letter, a color graphic that starts with that letter and a large black outline of the picture so that the students can make the shape with their playdoh. I tell them to start with a splat on the picture and then press it and mold it into the shape. For the letters, I model for them how to make Playdoh snakes. Since they get Playdoh on the very first morning of Kindergarten, it’s a good time to teach them how to make the snakes. Now, they already know this skill and are set to start as soon as you pull this center out! As you can see in the picture above, I have also included a “I Can” statement in the pack to help kiddos be more independent at this center.

Here’s a closer look at what comes in this pack:

In the picture above you’ll see 3 different spinners. I’ve included those to make it feel like even more of a game. Students will spin the spinner to see which letters they are going to make.

Now, in passed experiences, when I’ve had playdoh mats out, they end up EVERYWHERE. It’s a HUGE mess and no one can find the letter that they need. Here’s how I solved this problem. I just printed out the mats and put them in sheet protectors and put them in a 3-ring binder. Now, when they spin a letter, they can easily flip to that page in the binder and get started. No fuss! No mess!