Looking for STEM activities and STEAM activities that double as decodable phonics practice? These playdough mats are the perfect hands-on addition to your STEM, STEAM, or literacy centers! Designed for 1st and 2nd grade, this resource combines open-ended creative challenges with short vowel decoding practice — so your students build fine motor skills, engineering thinking, and reading fluency all at once.

Every single challenge prompt is written using CVC words and common sight words, meaning your students can read and follow the directions independently — no more relying on you to read the challenge card aloud!

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⭐ 24 Different STEM Playdough Mats — 60+ Different STEM/STEAM Activities!

✔️ Designed with flexibility in mind, these mats are offered in different sizes and in both color and black-and-white to suit any classroom setup.

• Legal-sized STEM Playdough Mats (****Please note that when you go to print, you will have to change the paper size to legal for them to print correctly.)
• Legal-sized “backs” for the mats
• The same playdough mats as above, but letter-sized
• Editable versions included!
• Teacher notes, ideas, and questions for your STEM time
• Suggestion posters for how to create things out of playdough
• Task cards of short vowel STEM challenges
• Playdough recipes
• “My Smoosh Station Journal” writing mini-book to extend students’ learning

🎯 NGSS-Aligned: Each mat’s engineering challenges connect to K-2-ETS1 (Engineering Design)

Ways to Use:

• Short vowel STEM centers during your phonics or literacy block
• Morning tubs or fast finisher activities
• Fine motor practice for early finishers
• Small group instruction or independent exploration

✔️ Skills Students Will Practice:

• Creativity and design thinking
• Short vowel decoding and phonics vocabulary
• Reading comprehension (following and acting on written directions)
• Fine motor development
• Problem-solving and engineering
• Observation and reflection through journaling

Perfect for teachers who want engaging STEM activities and STEAM activities that also reinforce foundational reading skills — grab these decodable playdough mats today and watch your students build, create, and read with confidence!