The Spotlight: Chalkboard Tuff Tray Mat

In this edition of The Spotlight, we're shining a light on our versatile Chalkboard Tuff Tray Mat. This innovative mat is more than just a surface for drawing; it’s a dynamic tool designed to engage young minds through imaginative play, sensory exploration, and hands-on learning. From practicing fine motor skills to fostering creativity, discover how this chalkboard mat can transform your teaching and playtime sessions. We decided to offer you a sneak peek into just a few of the many ways that this resource can be incorporated into your classroom or setting.

Alphabet Formation

A simple and easy-to-set-up activity to allow children to practice their alphabet formation! Whether it be uppercase, lowercase, or even number formation, all you need are some chalk pens or chalks. We find that our easy-grip chalks work great with this activity as they allow maximum control for small hands.

Clean the Mess

Get those fine and gross motor muscles moving! Create chaos with chalks, then encourage children to use our Trigger Spray Bottles and a sponge to wipe away the mess. The large scale of the tuff tray means that they can work on developing muscles across their entire body with large-scale movements.

Dino Bone Match

Our Match and Measure Dinosaur Bones are great for pairing with our Chalkboard Tuff Tray Mat. Simply trace around the bones using a chalk pen and encourage the children to match up the outlines with the correct-sized bone.

Fine Motor Rainbow

An engaging way to learn the colours of the rainbow while promoting fine motor development. Simply use chalk pens to draw out a rainbow template. We used our Kindness Heart Stones as a guide for each colour, but you could use different coloured chalks instead. Then, fill the tray with multi-coloured pom poms and encourage the children to match the pom poms to the colours of the rainbow using their tweezers. We find that our All-Weather Jumbo Tweezers work great for this.

Chalk Art Gallery

Let their imagination run wild and encourage creative expression by creating your own art gallery for your setting. Simply draw out one large picture frame template or many smaller ones for each child. Then watch as their masterpieces begin to appear!

As you can see, our Chalkboard Tuff Tray Mat is an adaptable learning resource that can be used for all areas across the curriculum. With one swipe of a wipe or sponge, this mat can go from hosting a math exercise to a PSED activity or a sensory exploration. The possibilities are truly endless. I guess the real question is… how would you use our Chalkboard Tuff Tray Mat?