Practice Patterns With Your Preschooler
Red... green... red... green... red… green… Use blocks to practice making patterns with your preschooler. Start simple and then mix things up as your child gets more confident about making patterns.
Peg and Cat love to use patterns to solve problems. They can make patterns with letters or numbers or shapes or colors! In the video River Crossing Pattern, Peg and Cat have to remember a pattern in order to cross a river without falling in the water. They compare it to a pattern they saw previously and think about how this pattern is similar and different.
Just like Peg and Cat, your child can explore color, size and shape and use critical thinking skills to identify, continue or even make their own patterns. Start by talking about and finding existing patterns in your home or neighborhood and then make your own patterns with this activity.
Materials
Directions
Talk about patterns with your child. What patterns have you pointed out to them at home? What do they already know about patterns? For example, you can ask:
- What is a pattern? (A pattern is a set of items or properties that repeat at least three times in a certain order.)
- What are some examples of patterns? (Examples include anything repeated in a specific order at least 3 times such as colors (red, green, red, green, red, green) or shapes (circle, square, circle, square, circle, square) or things (fork, spoon, fork, spoon, fork, spoon.)
Use blocks or other items from around your home to make a pattern. Start with a simple ABABAB pattern that calls out one aspect of the items, such as their colors. For example, if the items are red and green, put them in an order that repeats, like “red, green, red, green, red, green.” Using a marker or crayon that’s the same color as the items, trace the items in a pattern on a large piece of paper or cardboard. Remove the items and place them in front of your child in a pile. Ask your child to place the items on the matching outlines. Say the pattern out loud together.
Remove the items from the paper. Create a new ABABAB pattern by shape or size. For example, you can lay your items on the paper in a pattern such as big, little, big, little, big, little. Trace the items in the pattern on a large piece of paper or cardboard. Remove the items and place them in front of your child in a pile. Then ask your child to place the items on the matching outlines. Say the pattern out loud together.
Once your child understands the ABABAB pattern, you can trace the items in a more complicated pattern. For example, you can try ABBABBABB (red, green, green, red, green, green, red, green, green) or ABCABCABC (circle, square, rectangle, circle, square, rectangle, circle, square, rectangle.) Now have your child match the items to this harder pattern.
Now that you have a few traced patterns, place items on one of them slowly. As you pick up an item, ask your child what’s supposed to come next. Do you have the right item in your hand? If not, can your child help you find the item that comes next? Continue playing with your child to support them in noticing what comes next or when a pattern is out of order. Or switch roles and have the child trace a pattern for you to complete! Your child can tell you if you’ve done it correctly or not.
Explore Further
Try it! Use patterns to create art. Look for ways to use patterns in other crafts and projects that you do with your child. You could add patterns to garlands, holiday wreaths, paper mosaics, leaf rubbings, or block towers.
Try it! Play an ongoing game of "I-Spy a Pattern" at home or in your neighborhood. Look for patterns on clothes and toys, on floor tile or carpet, in company logos, and in nature.
Want more “Peg + Cat” activities? Go on a shape hunt and make soft pretzel numbers to continue the fun!
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Photography by Sana Kifafi.
Adapted from an activity written by Jamie Reimer of Hands on As We Grow.
Math
Science