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Looking for a toddler or preschooler activity for Memorial Day or 4th of July? This Free Playdough mat is sure to be a big hit! Also check out my Free Patriotic Do a Dot Printables for more educational fun!
Playdough is very good for developing fine motor skills and strength in the hands and fingers, which is important for future pencil and scissor control. It is also great for any kind of educational activity, from teaching numbers and letters, to science and geography. The hands-on sensory experience will make it easier to learn just about any concept.
Making the U.S. Flag with Playdough
All you need is red playdough for the stripes and white playdough for the stars.
Print the Free printable playdough mat. Laminate if you wish, although I didn't because I ran out of lamination sheets. It worked just as well, you just have to be more careful that your child doesn't rip the paper.
Before starting the activity, show your child the picture of the American Flag located at the bottom right corner of the paper. Explain that we will be adding the stripes and stars to make the flag look like the picture.
Show your child how to roll the playdough into long shapes to make the flag's stripes. If they can't do it on their own, start rolling each piece for them and have them "finish" rolling the pieces and then placing one at a time on the flag.
You will probably not be able to fit all 7 red stripes on the flag, we made 5. Next, we rolled the playdough into little balls to create the stars. Again, you can make the balls for them and have them place each piece at a time on the blue area of the flag.
We ended up with 8 stars instead of 50. Don't worry about trying to replicate the flag exactly. This exercise will teach your child that the United States flag consists of stars and stripes and your child will become visually familiar with how the flag looks like.
Lastly, we made the flagpole, which can be any color that your child chooses. Mine wanted to make a pink one.
Download your Free American Flag Playdough Mat!
Playdough mats work best when laminated! This is the laminator that I use below: (affiliate link)
