With this St. Patrick’s Day emotion play dough mat activity, different emotions are explored in a fun, hands-on way. Children will be using play dough or dry erase markers to recreate the leprechaun emotion cards on the blank leprechaun.
This activity is a great addition to your March or St. Patrick’s Day theme. And can be used for centers, small groups or one-on-one.
As a small group or center activity, children will be working on their fine motor skills as they roll, smash and place their play dough on the mats.
When working one-on-one, this activity can be good for further developing language. As children talk about feelings, they can be asked questions about the different emotions they are creating with their leprechaun faces.
The St. Patrick’s Day emotion play dough mat activity comes with 12 different emotions and is offered in both color and black & white. The feelings included in this activity are:
- Mad – boy
- Sad – girl
- Happy – boy
- Sleepy – girl
- Surprised – boy
- Silly – girl
- Annoyed – boy
- Excited – girl
- Worried – boy
- Loved – girl
- Sick – boy
- Calm – girl
To set up the St. Patrick’s Day feelings activity:
- Print out the St. Patrick’s Day leprechaun mat and feelings page.
- Cut out the leprechaun mat and feelings and laminate.
- Provide play dough or dry erase markers to children.
- Instruct children to place an emotion in the blank box and then recreate the feeling on the leprechaun. They may use either play dough or dry erase marker.
Included in the Leprechaun St. Patrick’s Day Emotion Play Dough Activity:
- 2 leprechaun mats (1 boy & 1 girl) in color
- 2 leprechaun mats (1 boy & 1 girl) in b&w
- 1 feelings page (with 12 emotions) in both color and black & white (feelings are a mixture of boy & girl)
- 1 instruction page