I like using seasonal and fun things like candy canes to teach about things that I want Sean Patrick to learn or to practice.
Sean Patrick is familiar with patterns and he likes to finger-paint a lot, but he still needs a lot of practice so we are still working with AB patterns.
So, we are going to finish these patterns by taking turns.
For the first candy cane I will paint one color and he will paint the next.
Then, we will switch for the second candy cane. Ā He will paint with the color I used the first time, and then I will paint with the other color.
Finally, I am going to ask him if he wants to make up another pattern on a blank template.
Here is a short video of us painting our second template – it is spur of the moment iPhone videoing so you get to see the real-life clip of our flighty pattern painting moment.
I hope you aren’t sick of patterns yet…especially since this is all so new to your little one.Ā There will be subjects you are passionate about teaching, and hey, who knows, maybe patterns is one of them.Ā Not quite? Well, you cant say I didn’t try to persuade you.
Your child is going to continue with making any patternĀ of choice, but today you will encourage your little one to extend patterns after following an example, and make pattern arrangements without connecting the cubes.
I made pattern cards that I want you to print onto cardstock (for sturdiness) and cut out in strips.Ā
Then you are going to 1) show your little one how to copy and extend each pattern and 2) include your child as you extend the pattern (“hmmm…I wonder which would come next?”) 3) allow your little one to copy and extend them on their own.
I attached a blank pattern card document in case you don’t have the colors I used OR you want to give them more to practice withĀ in which caseĀ youĀ can color your own š
After your little one is building confidence, encourage him/her to make patterns with the cubes without attaching them together such as one facing up and the next flipped facing down.Ā Additionally, allow them to explore patternsĀ using household items or toys your child has such car sizes: big, small, big, small, etc.
This extension of the pattern concept will prepare children for seeing patterns extended in designs and later on, in numbers.
Maybe you took my advice and purchased some cubes, maybe you didn’t haha, but that’s okay, we’ll try to work with what you have.Ā All that to say, today, IĀ want youĀ using different color cubes (blocks, LEGO’s or something that can attach together) to represent the movement patterns we have been developing over the last couple pattern lessons.Ā
If you read the post āMath On My Fingersā you might remember the āI do, we do, you doā teacher strategy.Ā First you will model an example of how to do the activity, then you will do one with your little one, and then you will see if he/she can do one on his own.
Pour out the blocks on the floor/table in the room you are working.Ā Start out with a movement pattern.Ā āI am going to make a pattern with my hands, can you join me when you think you know what it is: (snap, clap, snap, clap, snap, clapā¦.). Good job! How many different motions did I do with my hands? (wait for a response) Well, letās see, I snapped and I clappedā¦..so, I did two different things with my hands.Ā So I am going to pick two different colors and Iām going to try to make that pattern by snapping them together and repeating it over and over just like my sounds (build a tower like this: red, blue, red, blue, etc.).Ā See, if I were to read the colors it would sound just like my movement pattern: snap, clap, snap, clap.Ā Do you think you can make my pattern with two different colors?Ā Iāll help you š
Letās try one together with new motions and new colors.
Finally, can you make one up all by yourself?
This should be the sequence of the activity.Ā If you have ANY problems, questions, or roadblocks, please
Iād love to help in any way I can.
But remember to make it fun, keep the duration as long (or short) as their attention span can handle, and practice this same skill over and over againĀ before you move on to the next pattern skill š
Following up on the “Pattern Introduction” post, here is an activity and some info on the next phase of introducing patterns….
Before we start, if you have been doing the rhythmic patterns I want you to practice some more, introducing the letters ABC.
So you might clap, snap, snap, clap, snap, snap while saying “A, B, B, A, B, B” because you are doing one thing and then another so you move to a different letter of the alphabet to name that movement, and so on and so on.Ā This is due to the fact that universally movement patterns, color patterns, and shape patterns are often represented using the letters of the alphabet.Ā
You can teach them this by saying “If I am doing two motions then I need two letters to stand for them so I am going to use the first two letters of the alphabet āAā and āBā.Ā Letās try an AB pattern: stomp with the right foot, stomp with the left foot, but lets use the letters to stand for our stomping, āA, B, A, Bā while stomping left, right, left, right.Ā If I clap when I say āAā and I snap when I say B then it would sound like this ‘A, B, B, A, B, B’ but if I made up a beat with 3 movements then I would need the next letter in the alphabet to stand for the new movement: Touch your head, shoulders, knees, head, shoulders, kneesā¦. āA, B, C, A, B, C.āā
So, the next phase of patterns is allowing some symbol (like letters) to represent the movement, but other than introducingĀ letters verbally as we just have as a listening and doing activity, we are going to incorporate visual representations of the movement.Ā So your child is going to follow a pattern, by looking at pictures, not just listening and following along with you.
Here are 3 separate patterns to follow, click on the image and print it out; see if your child can tell what movements to do by “reading” the directions:Ā
Take pictures of your child doing other movements, put them into a word document in a pattern, and print.Ā Your child will have so much fun with that!
