Road Alphabet and Number Playdough Mats

This post has been co-written with Ben Wolfson, a full-time educator and assistant principal in the USA. 

Anything that uses a transportation theme for kindergarten will get them engaged, and these alphabet and number playdough mats are a fantastic grab and go activity that will have them both uppercase and lowercase alphabet tracing as well as number tracing all year long. Anyone who knows five year old kids knows the common themes that engage them in their learning: dinosaurs and animals are ubiquitous year after year, but vehicles are also almost always at the top of the list..

Letter and Number Writing Practice

The importance of correct letter and number formation can’t be overstated. It underpins every branch of student learning from solving math equations to writing high quality essays.

It all starts in the kindergarten room, which is why using these alphabet and number playdough mats is a great way to build muscle memory of the shape of each number and all 52 letters, both upper and lowercase. Using a variety of media before you even think about having them pick up a writing tool will make your students more confident as they begin to make meaningful marks which makes these printable number cards and letter cards a must throughout the school year.

Preparing Road Alphabet and Number Playdough Mats

For this activity you will need:

Paper

Printer

Playdough

Optional: laminator, mini erasers, shaving cream or other messy media

If you don’t have the materials needed, don’t sweat! You can get it delivered to your doorstep really quickly with Amazon Prime. You can get a 30-day free trial here.

The best thing about these printable number cards and letter cards is that you can simply download the entire pack and print off just the letters or numbers that you need for that day. It makes sense to keep them full size so that students get a true feel for the shape, and you should definitely consider laminating them if you’re planning on using shaving cream or other messy media. 

Encouraging Uppercase and Lowercase Alphabet Tracing

More Transportation Themed Centers

Like this? Then you’ll love my 10 Transportation Themed Literacy and Math Centers. These easy-prep games will get your students working on letters, phonics, numbers and more!

Games included:

1) Number Writing Mats – 1 to 20 included; Kids will trace the numbers as well as the number word. The number of vehicle images shown on the mats corresponds to the number so these can also be used for counting.

2) Hot Air Balloon Which Is More Clip Cards – 15 comparison sets for numbers 1 to 10; Place a wooden peg or clothespin on the picture with more hot air balloons.

3) Monster Truck Roll and Graph – Graphing sheet for 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 provided together with a special printable dice; Print out, cut, and form the dice. Ask your child to roll it and graph the result to see which monster truck will win the race.

4) Colorful Convertible Memory Match – 9 color pairs included; Turn over the cards 2 at a time trying to find the matching pair by memory.

5) Number Puzzle Strips – 6 different puzzles included for numbers 1-10 (2 designs), 11-20 (2 designs), counting by 2s up to 20, and counting by 10s up to 100.

6) Alphabet Bus Stop – Match the correct letter wheels to the bus according to the object shown on the beginning sound bus stop sign.

7) Parking Cars Tracing LInes – 12 patterns included for pre-writing practice

8) Train Handwriting Practice – Practice writing upper and lowercase letters

9) Truck Lego Letter Formation – Kids will love building the alphabet using the mats provided

10) Taxi Alphabet Matching – 2-piece puzzles to match up upper and lowercase letters

Check it out for more ready-to-go fun!

Fun Books About Vehicles:

Other Free Vehicle Themed Printables:

1) Parking Cars Tracing Lines – More than 10 different tracing line patterns to choose from, all of which help with pencil control.

2) Train Number Writing Practice – Kids will be able to practice their number handwriting skills in this train-themed activity that’s super easy to prep for your transportation learning week!

3) Monster Truck Rhyming Wheels – A fun early literacy activity where your child will pair up the monster truck wheels that have rhyming pictures.

4) Vehicle Shadow Matching – Develop visual discrimination with this fun vehicle-themed worksheet.

5) Construction Counting Mat – This construction-themed counting mat can be used with playdough, Legos or any other small manipulatives you have.

6) Truck Wheel Shape Matching – In this printable preschool shapes activity, they’ll work on early geometry as well as fine motor skills.

Fine Motor Tools For Your Classroom:

Other Fine Motor Printables You’ll Love:

1) St Patricks Fine Motor Mats – Your students can practice their playdough, coloring or any other crafty skills.

2) Pre Primer Sight Words Q Tip Painting – Your students will learn the 40 Dolch pre primer sight words with this set of q tip painting printable worksheets.

3) Parking Cars Tracing Lines – Kids will improve their fine motor skills and concentration at the same time. There are more than 10 different tracing patterns to choose from.

4) Pirate Alphabet Playdough Mats -Literacy and fine motor skills are developed with these colorful playdough letter mats that your students will surely treasure.

5) Acorn Tracing Lines – Practice fine motor skills with these 4 different acorn-themed worksheets. Help the squirrel grab the acorn!

Browse My Most Popular Math Printables:

1) Parking Cars Tracing Lines – More than 10 different tracing line patterns to choose from, all of which help with pencil control.

2) Scarecrow Arrange By Size – 3 different scarecrow-themed image sets that they will arrange from smallest to biggest.

3) Bumblebee Addition Game – Solve the sum and help the bee land on the correct flower!

4) Farm Shapes Mats – Use playdough, pompoms, stickers etc to learn 2D shapes.

5) Popsicle Stick Number Formation – Kids will love forming the numbers 1 to 10 when ice cream and popsicles are involved!

6) Valentines Printable Worksheets Pack – 50 pages of mixed literacy and math activities.

7) Zoo Animals Number Puzzle Strips – Complete these cute puzzles and learn the numbers 1 to 20.

8) Counting Colorful Bugs – This printable book will help kids count to 10 while also learning about color words.

9) Humpty Dumpty Numbers – In this printable game, your students will practice number recognition using 1 dice or simple addition when using 2 dice.

10) Build A Number Santa – Match the number to the correct number word, tally mark and domino to form a Santa Claus

Browse My Most Popular Literacy Activites:

1) Valentines Alphabet Clip Strips – Kids will choose among 5 different letters on the strip to identify the matching ones.

2) Alphabet Beginning Sound Coloring Pages – Watch your child become more familiar with each letter of the alphabet as they practice coloring in the objects with that beginning sound.

3) Tommy Turkey’s Alphabet Pie – This turkey-themed letter recognition activity is so simple to prep and makes a great file folder game!

4) Pirate Alphabet Playdough Mats – Just print out the playing mats and ask your child to form the letters out using the playdough provided.

5) Farm Alphabet Find and Cover Letters – Work on letter recognition any time of the year!

6) Werewolf Spin and Cover – Kids will race to find all the letters on their mat this Halloween.

7) Bunny Burrows Game – Fun game for small groups or circle time where students will catch a bunny and say out the sound.

8) Letter-saurus Fossil Digging – Dinosaur lovers will enjoy being a pretend paleontologist and finding all the letters.

9) Alphabet Handwriting Worksheets – Practice lowercase and capital letters with these print-and-go pages.

10) Rainy Day Alphabet – 1 printable, many ways to use.