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Bring creativity to the holidays with Christmas playdough mats

By: Author Helen Neale

Posted on

The Christmas holiday season is a great time to add a touch of creativity into your kids’ playtime, and these festive Christmas Playdough mats are just the thing to make it happen. We have cover Playdough before on the site, as well as ideas for sensory play, so we thought, why not do something themed for you all?

Designed with fun in mind, they’re a fantastic activity for children at home and in the classroom. Grab your playdough and get ready for a hands-on activity that spreads joy and strengthens vital skills.

What are these Christmas Playdough mats all about?

These Playdough mats bring all the charm of Christmas to your crafting table. The set includes themed mats featuring characters ready to spark imagination. Expect the festive staples you love — think Christmas trees, reindeers, mittens, and a cheerful Santa. Kids Can decorate and customise the mats using their Playdough, making every creation unique.

Features of the mats:

  • Durable design: Print out the mats on sturdy paper or laminate them for added longevity – you can go for A3 or A4 depending on how you feel,
  • Multiple Uses: You kids can use Playdough to decorate the scenes repeatedly. You can also color them in too for even more fun, and
  • Festive themed: Designed with Christmas cheer, these mats will keep you and the kids in the Christmas mood.

How to use the Christmas Playdough mats

Getting started is as easy as grabbing some Playdough and the printed out mats. All you need to do is follow these steps:

  1. Print the mats: To keep using them, consider laminating, if you are coloring them though, laminate afterwards so the color stays on them,
  2. Color them first (optional): You can invite your kids to color the mats with markers or crayons before applying the Playdough,
  3. Get creative with Playdough:
    • Shape ornaments to decorate the Christmas tree.
    • Craft any of the shapes within the other characters, from the reindeers antlers, to Santa’s beard. Your children can decide which parts of the the mat they want to bring to life with the Playdough,
    • Design stockings and add candies, toys, or patterns using Playdough wherever you want on your pictures.
  4. Encourage free play: While kids can follow the images as guides, they’re free to get creative and make their own additions. It is all about your children creating their unique ideas from the images.

These mats are perfect for independent play, group activities, or even a festive crafting session in a classroom setting.

Benefits of using Playdough

Playdough isn’t just fun — well – kids think it is but….it does have some developmental benefits that can make it a valuable tool for children’s too:

1. Supports fine motor kills

Squishing, rolling, and shaping playdough strengthens small hand muscles. These are the same muscles kids use for writing, cutting, and buttoning clothes. Activities like pressing Playdough into shapes or making tiny decorations are excellent ways to develop these skills.

2. Enhances creativity

Customizing these mats encourages children to think outside the box. They can follow the design or create their own, tapping into their imagination and problem-solving skills.

3. Encourages sensory play

Playdough provides a rich sensory experience. The texture, colors, and movement all contribute to calming sensory input, which helps children focus and feel grounded. It can be particularly beneficial for neurodivergent children that are sensory seeking around touch, and smell, and even visually, depending on what colors you are using. Don'[t be afraid to mix colors together and let the kids explore the Playdough visually to help to create a more enriched sensory experience.

These Christmas Playdough Mats are an easy, fun, and beneficial addition to the holiday season. They’ll keep little hands busy while fostering creativity, fine motor skills, and emotional wellbeing. Whether you’re a parent looking for an engaging activity at home or a teacher wanting to add festive cheer to your classroom, these mats are the perfect solution.

Gather some Playdough, print out the mats by clicking the download button or image below, and turn up the holiday music.

Download the Christmas Playdough mats now

For more messy play and Playdough fun, check these posts out on the site:

Messy play and other activities

If you want some ideas of what to do to create some fun memories with the kids, what about some of these messy play and other fun ideas for them too. You will you aren't trying to get the carpet stain out the mat for years though....!

And these off site on some of our friends fabulous sites:

Playdough ideas from the internet

we have a few more ideas for you around Playdough from beyond our site - recipes, and activities for the kids to try out.

We hope you like what you see here, take care and see you soon,

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, website editor and a qualified counsellor with experience of working with both children and adults. She is a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapists, with her own private practise. She also freelances with her local Mind organisation. Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, use those grey cells at the same time, and supplement her counselling income. KiddyCharts has reach of over 680k across socials and the site. The site works with big family brands to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. She is a specialist counsellor for neurodivergent individuals and brings this expertise to her resources and the site. She is also an ADHDer herself. KiddyCharts gives 51%+ profits to charities, focused on supporting mental health and a community in Tanzania Helen has also worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!

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