As we have been talking about fine motor skills over the course of several blog posts, having a variety of activities to offer children to practice these skills is not only fun, but it takes boredom and monotony out of the equation completely. In this post, we will show you how you can target several skills with one activity. Here, we target Language Arts (alphabet letter formation and left-to-right letter formation), sensory tasks and formation of shapes through these playdough alphabet games for fine motor skills.
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So, saying that we will make play dough letters sounds like for to a child, right? But it actually is a great activity to practice and encourage fine motor skills in preschoolers. All you need is: a set of play dough in several colors, an alphabet play dough mat and a sheet protector or laminator.
The play dough letter mats can be downloaded from a website or they can be made at home with cardstock paper and a marker. Either way, the important thing is that the games will be fun and educational. Some fine motor skills examples are letters, numbers, shapes and even symbols. The sky is the limit!
Play Dough Games to Play
My child enjoyed playing several fine motor skills games, but the alphabet letters one was her favorite. We first practiced the shapes we would need for the letters. We practiced rolling long strips. Also, I taught her how to put two ends together to make a circle. After we did that a few times, she was fascinated when she realized that three rolls (two longer and one shorter) make the capital letter “A.” A circle and a short roll make the lower case letter “a.”
We used several letter play dough mats to make several letters that she liked. Eventually, she didn’t need the mats, but rather used the rolls and circles out of play dough to spell her name. She did it on her own! It was quite impressive, if you ask me! To get this specific letter play dough mat set with every letter in the alphabet, go here.
Thank you for visiting our Playdough Alphabet Games for Fine Motor Skills post!
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Tanya is the owner and writer for the The Natural Homeschool and a homeschooling mom to two children, a son and daughter. She focuses on following their particular learning interests and in building a strong Christian foundation in their hearts.
To cater to their high giftedness, she uses eclectic teaching approach, which complement each other and maximize the fun in learning. Tanya has a degree in elementary education, a minor in French and a Master's degree in school administration. Her training in the Montessori Method is in the ages 3-6. She is happily married to her best friend and enjoys sharing her life and experiences in her blog to provie inspiration and bring new ideas.