Make a Paper Flower Garden

Feb 1, 202320 min activity

In the “Work It Out Wombats!” episode “Zadie’s Shell Shuffle,” Mr. E has a colorful shell garden with a beautiful pattern. But Zadie mixes up the shells! She and JunJun have to figure out how to put the shells back in the right order before Mr. E finds out.

Support your child in identifying, copying, and creating patterns using paper to design a pretty flower garden. Create songs to help you remember the order of the patterns you create together. Continue learning about patterns by looking for them around your house.

Materials

A few sheets of paper in blue and yellow (or other colors of your choosing)
Scissors
Optional: Create Patterns (PDF) (opens in new window)

Directions

Cut out flowers from your sheets of paper and separate the flowers into two piles. You will need at least three flowers in one color and at least six flowers in another color. You can make more flowers in each color if you like.

Practice making a pattern. Together with your child, make a row of flowers that repeats Mr. E’s pattern. Repeat this pattern at least three times: (row 1) blue, yellow, yellow, (row 2) blue, yellow, yellow, (row 3) blue, yellow, yellow.

Remember the pattern. Sing a song together to remember the order of the colors: Blue, yellow, yellow. Repeat the song at least 3 times, pointing to each color as you sing.

Now make your own garden! Ask your child to think about how they’d like their flowers to be arranged. What kind of pattern will they make? Encourage your child to think of a pattern that’s different from Mr. E’s. You may need to explain what a pattern is: a set of objects that repeat over and over.

Create your own pattern. Select flowers from the piles of paper flowers and make a row of flowers that repeats again and again at least 3 times in the same order each time. Ask your child questions about the pattern they are making and and share ideas to make sure your child understands what a pattern is.

Remember the pattern. Sing a song together to remember the order of the colors. Repeat the song as many times as there are rows, pointing to each color as you sing.

Pause and think. If your child finds the activity challenging, give them time and space to figure out how to check the pattern before trying to help. Ask your child, “How can we check the pattern and make sure the colors are in the right order?” Sing your song together to help spot and fix any problems.

Repeat your pattern. Encourage your child to make more rows of flowers using the pattern. Repeat the order again and again until you have made a beautiful garden!

Share and reflect on what you did. Talk with your child about the patterns you made. Ask your child questions: “What if our flower garden pattern got mixed up? What would we do to fix it?” You could also ask, “If we made a brand-new pattern, what would we want it to look like? What song could we make up to help remember our brand-new pattern?” Then, mix up a pattern and see if you can remember it with the song you created!

Want more “Work It Out Wombats!” activities? Try being sound detectives to continue the fun!