These ornament shape mats are perfect as part of your Christmas activities for preschoolers and kindergartners. What a festive way to practice shapes!
As with all of our shape mats, there are an endless number of ways to use these with your students. Plus, the ornament play dough shape mats are super low-prep. You can have these ready for your students to use tomorrow!
You can easily differentiate the ornament shape activity based on the individual needs of each of your students. And literacy is woven into the printable, allowing you to touch on those skills with your students as well.
Related: Free Preschool Printables
Be sure to grab your free ornament shape mat printable at the end of this post!
Ornament Shape Mats
Below you’ll find tips for prepping the ornament shapes, as well as some ideas for using the mats with your students. Of course, you can definitely come up with even more ideas on your own!
Related: Christmas Playdough Mats
Materials For the Christmas Shape Mats
You may have all of these items lying around already – especially if you already have some of my other free printables. Just in case, here’s a list of what we used with the ornament shape mats, and links to easily find everything in one place (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post)”
- Ornament shape mats (grab your own at the bottom of the post)
- Printer
- Laminator
- Dry erase pockets
- Mini erasers
- Glass gems
- Pompoms
- Play dough
- Dry erase markers
Prepping the Ornament Shape Printable
Print out the mats you’d like to use. Included in this pack are: circle, triangle, square, star, hexagon, octagon, heart, pentagon, rhombus, rectangle, oval, and trapezoid. Print them on card stock to make the mats thicker, but regular printer paper will work just fine.
I highly suggest that you laminate the ornament shape mats. If you want, back them with some colorful Christmas or construction paper before laminating them, to make them more festive.
If you don’t want to laminate them, place the shape mats in dry erase pockets to ensure they last longer. The laminated versions seem to work best when using play dough.
Then grab the other materials you want to use along with the ornament mats, and you’re ready to go!
Related: Gingerbread Shape Mats
How to Use The Ornament Shape Mats
By now you probably know how much I love multi-use printables for preschoolers. These Christmas ornament shapes are no exception, as there are so many great ways to use them! Printables like these have so much more to offer than your basic preschool worksheets.
In addition to helping your students recognize shapes, they will be able to:
- Read shape names
- Work their hand and finger muscles
- Practice fine motor skills
- Name colors
- Form connections between these shapes and similar shapes in the world
- Practice counting if paired with math manipulatives
Related: Ornament Calendar Numbers
Your kids can use any fun little items (even candy!) to place around the perimeters of the shapes. They can also trace around the shapes with dry erase markers, both on the individual ornament shape mats and the page with all of the shapes.
They can even decorate the shape ornaments with dry erase markers or manipulatives, cover the shapes with play dough, pom poms, or any other material they like to use.
Alternatively, use the multi-shape page as a scavenger hunt key, where the kids find items around the classroom in each of the shapes, and they can mark them off as they find them!
More Early Childhood Resources
So….. feeling a little stretched thin this time of year? Give yourself the big old gift of having all of your Christmas lesson plans done for you. Then you can kick back and enjoy a piping hot mocha while your kids basically teach themselves!
Well, you may have to at least put the materials out for them, but we have made it so easy for you with our done-for-you teacher resources at Preschool Teacher 101.
There are lesson plans, math packs, journal printables, and many more teacher resources available. Here are a few you might be interested in (just click on the photo for more information):
More Christmas Activities
Round out the holiday season with more fun opportunities for your kids to practice the concepts you are teaching. Here are some more Christmas activities your little ones will have a blast with!
- Christmas Popsicle Stick Crafts
- Sticker Christmas Tree Craft
- Christmas Calendar Numbers
- Hole Punch Christmas Tree
- Christmas Science Experiments
- Fizzing Christmas Tree
- Christmas Lights Printable Book
- Salt Sculpture Trees
- Christmas Tree Slime
- Christmas Cookie Shape Mats
Get the Ornament Shape Mats
Ready to print out your ornament mats? The printable shape mats are available to members of Fun-A-Day’s email community. If you’re a member, enter your information below to have it sent to your inbox.
If you’re not a member, no worries! You can enter your information in the form below to join us. Then you’ll receive the ornament shape mats as a welcome gift.
Please be sure to refer to our printables FAQ so you know the ins and outs of printing PDFs!
This is adorable. What a great idea!
Thank you so much for sharing with Sweet Tea & Friends this month dear friend.
Thank you, Paula! We’ve loved using them!!