We’re admittedly play dough fanatics around here. There is always at least one play dough invitation out and ready to play with at our house. They get a ton of use, and there is so much potential for learning that I’m always inspired to create a new version. Although we’ve made reindeer play dough, gingerbread play dough, peppermint play dough, and more over the years, we’ve never made Christmas ornament play dough. Clearly it was time to give it a try, and we even made some free printable play dough mats to go along with the invitation if you’d like to use them.

GET A FULL WEEK OF CHRISTMAS THEME ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE PRESCHOOL CHRISTMAS LESSON PLANS.

Ornament Play Dough Materials

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• • Christmas Play Dough-We reused the silver dough we made for our robot play dough invitation, and added in some red and green dough.
  • Tinsel Stems trimmed to assorted lengths
  • Red and green buttons
  • Beaded necklaces trimmed to assorted lengths
  • Holiday colored metallic pony beads
  • Christmas Confetti (similar)
  • Holiday colored paillettes sequins (They carry a multicolored pack at our craft store, and I just pulled out the red, green, silver, and gold.)
  • Ornament Play Dough Mats laminated or placed into sheet protectors (optional)
  • Ornament or Circle Cookie Cutters (alternative option if you are not using the play dough mats)

Time to Play

When introducing a new play dough invitation I always leave the materials out for the kids to discover. I do not give assignments or outline expectations (they are already very familiar with general expectations for play dough use). I simply want to invite them to explore the materials. Sometimes that means they go in a completely different direction, and that’s okay. Most often they have enough background knowledge that they end up somewhere along the lines of what I anticipated for the invitation, and I am always impressed by how their imaginations get to work to create something that is just their own.

Both of my girls chose to use the play dough mats that were out with the materials. They each created multiple ornaments using the different mats, and they decorated them each with a different array of materials form the tray.

We’ll be keeping this invitation out with some of our other holiday activities until Christmas, so the kids will be sure to get a lot of use out of it!

GET A FULL SET OF CHRISTMAS THEME ACTIVITIES

Explore the symbols and traditions of Christmas and incorporate reading, math, science and more in this 169-page preschool secular Christmas lesson plan set full of fun and playful Christmas learning activities for preschool. Watch this short video to see just a few examples of the types of activities and printables included in this set:

The 169-page Christmas Lesson Plan Set includes hands-on activities and these additional printables:

1) Beginning Letters Gift Sorting Game (in color and b/w)

2) Reindeer Math Mats (2 versions in color and b/w)

3) My Christmas Senses Activity Book Making Pieces

4) 0-35 Christmas Number Cards (2 versions in color and b/w)

5) Christmas Counting Syllables Sorting Game (in color and b/w)

6) Christmas Picture-Word Cards (in color and b/w)

7) Ornament Play Dough Mats

8) Candy Cane Play Dough Writing Task Cards (shapes, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, number 0-20)

9) Christmas Light Patterns Activity Pieces (in color and b/w)

Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.