FREE Printable Number Playdough Mats

If your kids love playing with playdough, you can enhance their experience by adding playdough mats to the mix! These free number playdough mats will make playdough time even more fun and turn it into a learning activity too!

My kids play with playdough all the time. They love manipulating that soft squishy dough and turning it into all kinds of shapes!

Playdough mats are a creative and easy way to turn playtime into a learning experience without your kids even realizing it! While you’re here, be sure to grab my free alphabet playdough mats to complement these number playdough mats.

Here’s why you (and your kids!) will love these play dough number mats:

• Builds fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination skills
• Fun, low-pressure way to begin learning counting skills
• Helps develop number recognition
• Helps begin learning addition and subtraction skills
• Encourages creativity as they decorate their mats
• Low mess, high engagement, hands-on activity!
• Very little prep and can easily use these counting mats again and again!

My kids love using these mats, and I love that number mats work on so many skills in a fun, educational way!

These playful free playdough number mats are ideal for toddlers, preschoolers, pre-K, and kindergarten kids. All you have to do is print out the free number playdough mats, laminate them or stick them inside sheet protectors, and let your kids have fun! 

How To Prepare Playdough Number Mats

Parents, homeschoolers, preschool teachers, and early elementary teachers will all love this easy, hands-on educational activity that allows young children to practice forming numbers, counting to 10, and building fine motor skills as they complete this playdough activity.

Set up for using these free number playdough mats is super simple! Here’s what you need to do:

• Grab the free playdough number mat printable
• Print out the sheets and laminate them or slide them into sheet protectors
• Give your kids the sheets and some playdough, and let them get to work!

NOTE: If you don’t want to laminate the sheets, using sheet protectors works well too. However, laminating the sheets will make them more durable and help them last longer.

Make Some Playdough

Although you can definitely use store-bought play doh with these printable playdough number mats, playdough is one of those things that I highly recommend making because it’s super easy and you can easily avoid your kids playing with unwanted chemicals.

Try these options:

• 5-Minute Non-Toxic Easy Homemade Playdough
• Nutella Edible Playdough
• Homemade Cinnamon Scented Playdough

Questions To Ask When Using Free Printable Number Mats

I love these playdough counting 1-10 mats because you can literally turn your kids loose with the mats and some play doh and let them learn on their own.

You can also make it interactive and do it together while having some interesting conversations. Here are some ideas of things you can ask while your kids are playing with their playdough numbers to make them think a little deeper:

• What does three of something look like?
• Is six fewer or more than four?
• How many do I have if I have 1 and then get 3 more?

How To Use Playdough Mats In The Classroom

Calling all teachers! These number playdough mats are a great resource for your classroom. Here are some ideas of ways to use them with your class:

Have them trace the letters with their finger or a dry erase marker. Then, use any kind of math counter (buttons, mini erasers, baby bears, bingo markers, etc) in the cubes to count to the corresponding number on the mat.

Use these counting mats with small groups of students, as a station during more structured learning time or as an activity on rainy days or when looking for fun ideas before breaks.

Also, students can work on number sequencing and writing skills.

Ideas To Extend The Activity – More Ways To Use Playdough Number Mats:

• Give your child a dry erase marker to use with the counting mats printable.
• Older kids (kindergarten or 1st grade age) can use these mats to create addition problems.
• Challenge – try to make the object on the mat with playdough! Or color it in with dry erase markers!
• Pull out two number playdough mats and work on the concepts of greater than and less than. A visual model is a great way to help kids who are visual learners or who don’t quite understand why one number is “greater” than another.
• Work on the concept of subtraction using these number play dough mats.

Our Favorite Counting Books

Pair this activity with reading some fun books on counting! Check out these great options:

• Ten Little Sea Turtles
• Dinosaur Counting Book 1 to 20
• Dogs A Counting & Comparing Book
• Monster Counting Book 1 to 20
• Dr. Seuss’s 1 2 3
• Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3

Grab Your Playdough Mats

Download your copy of the free number mats below!

More Fun Hands-On Activities To Try

• Glitter Fall Slime Recipe (Borax-Free!)
• Glow in the Dark Slime
• Easy Cloud Dough
• Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils
• How To Make Fluffy Slime With Only 4 Ingredients

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