Choosing an open-ended playdough mat inspires creativity and imagination. They allow children to express their ideas and knowledge in any way they like, and encourages creative thinking, problem solving and ingenuity. Talking about the positive emotions is just as important. What makes you feel proud, and how does that look? Sleepy Face Playdough Mat What does a worried face look like, and how do you create that shape from play dough? What kind of things make you feel worried? Silly Face Playdough Mat

She added these features in her own way. Even though they didn’t actually look like actual facial features, they were exactly right in her mind. I love that! This understanding of individual likes and dislikes is a key moment, and allows children to understand things from someone else’s perspective. Sad Face Playdough MatIf your child needs some help with emotions then see if they can copy some pictures – you can Google images or we like the Sparkle Box ones here Squeezing and squishing the play dough is an easy way to strengthen their little hand muscles all while having fun. Once you and your child have constructed a face see if you can make it a ‘happy’ face or a ‘sad’ face or ‘angry’ face by changing the features.

Get out your pots of play dough and explain to your child that you’re going to make some play dough faces. All of our free printable playdough mats are open-ended. That means that there is no one ‘correct’ way to use them.

More Fabulous Playdough Ideas

Giving kids the vocabulary to name their own emotions is really helpful, and this hands on activity opens up the topic in such a simple and easy way. List of Emotions and Feelings for Kids

They each grabbed play dough and began adding facial features to the heads. My 5-year-old was very detailed and remembered to add things like the pupil of an eye, eyebrows and eyelashes. Make your tired little play dough person go to sleep, with this sleepy or tired face play dough mat. Confused Face Playdough Mat I have added these mats to our play dough bin and they are sure to make an appearance time and time again! Extend the emotions further by seeing if they can copy them – using a mirror can help your child to make the facial expression.My (just barely) 3-year-old was far more liberal with her face decorating. She just put clumps of play dough all over the mat. But we did discuss basic facial features such as eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair. Gross motor skills – using the larger muscles of the upper arm which are also important for fine motor development and writing.