Toy Theme Play Dough Mat

toy theme play dough mat

This toy theme play dough mat may be just the incentive kids need to build hand strength! Kids can improve hand strength in fun ways when play dough is added to the mix. We’ve been sharing a variety of free play dough mats based on several different themes. These are free printable playdough mats that kids can use to increase hand strength, specially strength of the intrinsic muscles of the hands.

The fact is that using a printable mat in play dough activities for fine motor skills is fun, innovative, and creative. Kids love them!

Use this free printable toy theme play dough mat to boost fine motor skills and hand strength that kids need for fine motor tasks, perfect for those kids that love play dough activities!


Toy Theme PlayDough Mat

Kids love toys, right? I haven’t met a child who isn’t captivated by a new toy. This toy theme play dough mat builds on the fundamental “job” that kids have…play!


You can print off this printable play dough mat that focuses on toys and an toy theme and use it to work on fine motor skills and the intrinsic muscle strengthening that kids need to complete many functional tasks…and even play!

Toy Themed Play Dough Mat for Fine Motor Skills

Show your child how to use the finger tips and thumb of one hand to roll a small ball of play dough. By using just one hand, they can develop and define the arches of the hand, while strengthening the other muscles of the intrinsic muscle groups at the same time.   

Then, ask the child to place and press the play dough on the circles on the toy play dough mat. They may need to pull off a bit of dough to make the play dough ball fit into the circles. This is a great activity for boosting visual perceptual skills too!  

Looking for more ways to use play dough to increase fine motor skills? Add these play dough activities to your therapy toolbox!

Gold, Silver, & Bronze Metallic Crayon Play Dough

Patriotic Crayon Salt Dough Recipe

Crayon Salt Dough Recipe

Crayon Floam Dough Recipe

Crayon Shaving Art

Shades of Red Crayon Play Dough

Harold and the Purple Crayon Play Dough

Here are more free play dough mats:

Free Ice Cream Play Dough Mat

Free Bird Play Dough Mat

Free Toys Play Dough Mat

Free Astronaut Play Dough Mat

Free City Skyline Play Dough Mat

Enter your email in the form below and access your free printable play dough mat. Then, pull out the play dough!   

Grab this FREE printable Toy themed play dough mat to help kids strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the hands!

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    Kids will love this free playdough mat with a toy theme while building the hand strength and fine motor skills.
     

    Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.

    Woolly Bear Caterpillar Craft Idea

    Make a simple woolly bear caterpillar craft to celebrate the coming of the fall season!  This caterpillar craft is a fun fall craft idea that can be used in occupational therapy activities to help kids with scissor skills, bilateral coordination, visual motor skills, direction following, fine motor skills, and more. 


    This fall craft idea is perfect for occupational therapists to use in OT sessions to work on handwriting with a woolly bear caterpillar theme for fall.




    Fall Craft Idea: Woolly Bear Caterpillar Craft

    Where I live we have a local Woolly Worm Festival that is celebrated the third week in October every year with the 41st annual taking place this year.  The festival hosts a fun race for woolly worms as they climb a three-foot length of string during different heats to win first place. The winning woolly worm gets the honor of predicting the severity of the coming winter based on its coloring. (The darker the shading the more snow and cold it represents.) 


    A woolly bear caterpillar has 13 body segments and there are 13 weeks of winter so each segment represents each week of winter. Now this isn’t truly science, but simple local folklore fun for kids and adults. 

    Kids can make a fall craft like this wooly bear caterpillar craft to help with skills like scissor skills, fine motor skills, visual motor sills, and more.

     

    Woolly Bear Caterpillar Craft for Occupational Therapy Goals:

    Since woolly bear caterpillars can be seen everywhere here as the fall season gets underway, we made a fun paper craft using simple materials to work on fine and visual motor skills. From cutting to pasting, construction to handwriting, this paper craft makes a big impact both in process and in end product. 


    It’s a fun fall fine motor activity that kids will love!

    Materials Needed to Make a Woolly Bear Caterpillar Craft

    Amazon Affiliate links are included below.


    Here are the materials needed to make this cute woolly bear paper craft:
    • Black construction paper
    • Brown construction paper
    • Sheet of white cardstock paper
    • Two googly eyes
    • Your preference of bottle or stick glue
    Scissors (This brand is my favorite for kids)
    • Brown marker
    • Optional: fall leaf stickers or leaves to cut out 

    Steps to Make a Woolly Bear Caterpillar Craft

    Use this wooly bear caterpillar craft as a fall craft idea with kids in occupational therapy activities this school year.

    Preparation steps:
    1. Mark the black and brown construction paper with lines for a child to cut in order to create 1 ½” wide and 4 ½” long strips. Draw cutting guidelines with regard to width based on each child’s skill level.  You choose how many of each color.


    2. If needed, write Woolly Bear Caterpillar on the cardstock paper for child trace or have child fill in the word or letter blanks or have child copy the text.  You choose which level of written output matches each child’s skill level.  

    Kids can use this wooly bear caterpillar craft idea as a fall fine motor craft that boosts the skills kids need for handwriting, scissor skills, fine motor skills, and many other areas that OTs work on in occupational therapy through crafts.

    Child steps:
    1.  Have child cut on the black and brown paper lines to create the individual strips.


    2. Have child wrap strips into loops and glue the ends. Press and hold for a few seconds to ensure they remain adhered together. 


    3.  Have child glue the loops onto the background cardstock paper to create a chain that resembles a caterpillar body. Have child press and hold each loop to the background paper for a few seconds to ensure it will remain attached to the paper.


    4.  Once the caterpillar body chain is created, have the child glue googly eyes near the top of the last loop at one end. 


    5. Optional: Peel sticker backs off of leaves and apply stickers to the background paper or cut and glue leaves on the background paper. 


    6. Finalize the activity by labeling the craft creation with “Woolly Bear Caterpillar” text either by tracing, filling in the blank, or writing independently.  

    Woolly Bear Caterpillar Handwriting Activity

    For further handwriting practice for older children, you could have them write a fact sheet about woolly bear caterpillars or use the acrostic poem printable I have created and included below. 


    Click here to print this free Woolly Bear Caterpillar Acrostic Poem and work on handwriting. 
      
    The Woolly Bear Caterpillar craft can be taken home or used in the creation of a classroom or therapy room bulletin board to celebrate the coming of the fall season.  


    Hope you enjoy this fun paper craft project with kids while working on fine and visual motor skills!