Free Emotions Playdough Mats for Preschool and Kindergarten

Helping children recognize and express emotions is an important part of early learning. These free emotions playdough mats are designed for preschool and kindergarten students to explore feelings in a fun, hands on way. Kids can practice identifying emotions while building fine motor skills through interactive playdough activities.

As a homeschooling mom of four, including one child with autism, I know how valuable it is to have engaging resources that encourage social emotional growth. Over the years, I’ve created countless printable packs that support both learning and play. These playdough mats have been especially helpful in our home for starting conversations about feelings in a non intimidating way.

Free printable emotions playdough mats for preschool and kindergarten with happy, sad, angry, and excited faces to build fine motor skills.

Teaching Tip: Keep playdough mats available during quiet time or transitions. Kids often open up about their own emotions while they’re creating and playing.

Learning Objectives: Building Emotional Awareness and Fine Motor Skills

These printable emotions playdough mats help children:

Identify and label common feelings such as happy, sad, scared, angry, and excited.
Build fine motor strength by shaping playdough to complete each face.
Develop early literacy skills by reading and writing emotion words.
Encourage social emotional learning through discussion and roleplay.

What’s Included in the Emotions Playdough Mats

This set of emotions worksheets includes:

10 unique mats featuring different emotions (happy, sad, scared, surprised, nervous, angry, excited, frustrated, loving, shy).
Space for children to trace or write the emotion word.
Open ended “This face is…” prompts to spark discussion.
Repeated versions for extra practice and reinforcement.

Ideas for How to Use the Playdough Mats

These mats can be used in so many ways:

Centers or small groups – let kids practice making faces with playdough.
Social emotional lessons – pair the mats with books about feelings.
Home learning – keep them handy for downtime or after school activities.
Therapy sessions – occupational therapists or counselors can use them for communication practice.

Kids can:

Shape playdough to match each expression.
Trace or write the emotion words.
Color the mats after laminating copies.
Act out the feelings during a class discussion.

Hands-on feelings worksheets for kids using playdough mats to practice social-emotional learning and early writing skills.

Best Age and Grade Levels

These feelings playdough mats are ideal for:

Preschool (ages 3–4)
Pre-K
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Early elementary or special education classrooms

Prep Instructions

These are simple no prep worksheets, just print and go. For durability, you may want to:

Laminate the mats for reuse.
Place them in dry erase pockets.
Print on cardstock for extra sturdiness.

Suggested Materials

To get started, you’ll want to have:

Playdough in a variety of colors
Crayons or markers
Dry erase markers (if laminated)

Download the Free Emotions Playdough Mats

These free printable playdough mats are a wonderful way to combine social emotional learning with fine motor practice. They’re simple, engaging, and ready to use for both classrooms and home learning.