Birthday Fine Motor Mats

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These fun Birthday Fine Motor Mats are a great way for your kids to work on fine motor skills while also learning to identify patterns. Use these free printable birthday fine motor mats as a fun standalone classroom activity, part of an all about me theme, or a fun way to celebrate birthdays in the classroom.

Free Printable Fine Motor Play Dough and Tracing Patterning Mats Center for PreK and K-1

These easy no-prep pattern birthday play dough mats are perfect for early learning skills and as a fun activity for your classroom.

This free printable set includes options that encourage kids to practice fine motor skills by copying the various lines. These are great for younger kids just getting the hang of making play dough snakes and working on fine motor skills.

For those ready to work on patterns, various pattern prompt birthday cakes are included in the set.

Laminate or enclose each mat in a dry-erase pouch so you can continue to use them over and over.

Practice fine motor skills with play dough in prek and kindergarten-free printable

OPTION 1: PLAY DOUGH

Set out your favorite homemade or store-bought play dough and invite kids to roll out play dough snakes. Vanilla “birthday cake” scented play dough adds an extra element of sensory fun! You could even add in a bit of glitter or confetti as sprinkles. Use the play dough snakes to cover the lines on the cake to mimic the patterns shown or create their own.

If you don’t want to use play dough or don’t have any on hand, children can also trace the patterns using dry erase markers in various colors! Invite kids to trace the lines to reflect the patterns on the cakes.

This can also extend the use of the activity after kids have used play dough. Simply move the activity to the writing center as a pre-writing practice activity to get additional use out of the printable.

Learning patterns with play dough birthday cake pattern mats

OPTION 2: TRACING

Set out the mats with dry-erase markers in various colors and invite kids to trace the lines to reflect the cake patterns. Challenge kids to add additional frosting details with their markers and see what other kinds of patterns they can incorporate.

Tracing patterns in prek and kindergarten-birthday theme activities

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES TO EXTEND LEARNING:

Have children attempt to make their own patterns from what they learned from this activity. You can use buttons, mini erasers, or other seasonal loose parts.
Use the blank printable cakes and invite kids to draw or glue collage materials as they design their own pattern birthday cakes.