Discover Animal Body Features With Playdough Mats!

We’re so excited about this fun set of playdough activity mats, and we can’t hide it! The Teach Starter team has created a new, interactive, multisensory approach to exploring animal body parts, the playdough Science Center!

With these playdough mats, your students will have the opportunity to sculpt examples of different animals from playdough and then engage in reading and labeling the various body parts, reinforcing their understanding of animal anatomy in a fun and engaging way. It’s also the perfect opportunity to build in a bit of fine motor skill development and boost creativity and confidence in the classroom.

Ways to Use Your Animal Playdough Mats

Your students will love these animal playdough mats so much that they’ll ask for them again and again! Here are a few fun ways to use playdough mats in the classroom.

• Use the cards to spark discussions about the functions of different animal features, such as wings for flying, fins for swimming, or claws for grasping. This helps students appreciate and understand more about animal adaptations.
• Send the printable activity cards home with students as part of a homework assignment or enrichment activity. This allows families to engage in hands-on learning experiences together and reinforces concepts learned in the classroom.
• Set up a playdough station in your classroom where students can work independently or in small groups to create and label animal models using the activity cards.

Download, Print, Laminate, and Play!

This resource is available as an easy-to-use Google Slides or Printable PDF Resource file. To get your copy, click the dropdown arrow on the download button to select your preferred file format.

We recommend laminating your cards before use so that your students can reuse them again and again.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and Teach Starter Collaborator.

Even More Ways to Learn About Animal Body Parts

That’s not all! Make sure you check out the resources below and fill in those Kindergarten Science lesson plans in a flash!

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Parts of an Animal Body - Labeling Worksheets

Examine and identify animal body parts with printable ‘Label the Animal’ activities for preschoolers and kindergarteners.

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Jellyfish Craft Template for Kids

Use this printable jellyfish craft template when learning about ocean animals or teaching about the letter J.

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Animal Classification Worksheets for Kindergarten

Identify and sort animals according to their characteristics with a printable pack of kindergarten science worksheets.