Sticker Patterns

When I was switching classrooms at the beginning of June, I found quite a few stickers and brought them home. Yesterday JJ wanted to put them in his writing notebook. Before I let him just have at it, we had a mini lesson on patterning. Nothing formal... I just wanted to access how well he could complete an AB pattern and the more complex AAB pattern. I was so pleased with how well he did. This was our first time trying to pattern together, so next time should be even better.

Procedures:

1. Take out the stickers and any paper you would like to stick them to.

*We used a notebook we got at the $1 spot at Micheal's. I always stock up on these.*

A pattern is anything where you can predict what will come next. But in this case, I wanted to use the more common definition. A pattern is something that repeats more than once.

2. Begin an simple AB pattern on the paper with the stickers. For example: football, basketball, football, basketball.

3. Touch each picture and say the name (football, basketball, football, basketball).

4. Repeat this and have your child say the names of the stickers with you.

5. Ask you kiddo if they notice anything about the order of the stickers. If they do not notice that the stickers repeat in the same order, point this out.

6. Ask your child to name the sticker that comes next. Allow him or her to actually place the sticker in the correct location.

7. Repeat steps 3-4 adding at least one more sticker.

*If you have an older child that needs a challenge, have him/her not only extend the end of the pattern but add on to the beginning of the pattern as well. This is a much more difficult concept.*

8. Repeat all steps with a different kind of pattern. We completed an AAB pattern. For example: soccer ball, soccer ball, football, soccer ball, soccer ball, football.

This activity took maybe 5 minutes and I was able to access that JJ is ready to begin experimenting and playing with patterns. Next time, I am going to use coins. He is still infatuated with them, so patterning the coins will be that much more fun and engaging.

Happy Learing!

Oh, one of my favorite things to pattern with are old buttons. You can usually buy containers of random old buttons at a local craft store. Kids love playing with them. They are great for sorting as well.