5 Fun Ways To Teach Your Child About Patterns

​By: Aradhana Pandey

The minds of little kids are always on a quest to learn new things. The teachings and values that you impart to your child during his formative years are bound to stay with him for a lifetime. The stronger the foundation that you set for your child today, the more enriched his future will be.

This also holds true as far as academics are concerned. The more streamlined your approach towards introducing your child to the alphabet, the better his understanding of languages will be!

Similarly, when it comes to mathematics, one of the best tools to enhance his understanding of many concepts like algebra and odd and even numbers is through patterns. Here are five fun ways you can teach your child about patterns:

1. Creating Patterned Jewelry – If you have a little girl, she is surely going to love this activity! It offers an excellent fusion of the elements of learning and fun together! Not only does this activity give your child an understanding of patterns but also colors. It even aids in the development of their fine motor skills.

Supplies Required:

• Beads/Fruit Loops in 2-3 colors
• Thread
• Let your child observe you put the first two-three beads/Fruit Loops in a thread in the pattern AB, AB or ABC, ABC
• Let him complete making the rest of the necklace or bracelet by following the same pattern throughout

2. Coloring And Creating Patterns – Does your child seem to be sitting bored on a sunny afternoon? Let him instead, indulge in a mentally stimulating activity that’s also extremely enjoyable! While he enjoys doing what he loves best (coloring), he will also improve his concentration levels and understanding about patterns.

Supplies Required:

• Three sets of cutouts of different shaped coloring pages
• Crayons
• Let your child color each of the three sets of the shape coloring page cutouts using different colors
• Place one set of the shape cutouts in the order ABC, ABC and ask your child to place the remaining two sets in the same order while identifying each cutout’s shape and color 

3. Making A Patterned Banner – Party in the house? It’s the perfect time for you to try this patterned banner making activity with your child! There’s nothing better than enjoying the festive spirit with a little bit of learning, is there?

Supplies Required: Decorative papers – 3 different sets

• Scissors
• Thread
• Cut the decorative papers into small triangles
• Start gluing the triangles of different colors in the pattern AABBCC, AABBCC one by one, on the thread
• Ask your child to continue to glue the remaining triangles, following the same pattern you made

4. Stamping – Stamping is one of the most exciting ways to teach your child about patterns. You can use everything from fruits, veggies, flowers to tiny buttons to create patterns. What’s better is that stamping also helps hone your child’s artistic flair!

Supplies Required:

• Non-toxic paints
• A potato and an apple
• White sheet of paper
• Cut a small potato and an apple
• Ask your child to dip the cut potato and apple into two different colored paints
• Now let him stamp the potato and apple in a sequence, making the AB, AB pattern

5. Creating Lego Patterns – Is your little one a Lego architect? Well then, this activity is sure to be a definite hit with him! Use tiny Lego blocks to give your child an elementary understanding of patterns.

Supplies Required:

• Lego blocks and characters
• Arrange a few Lego blocks in the ABCD, ABCD pattern
• Ask your child to place the remaining blocks in the same order

We’re sure that your child will have fun with these activities as much as he’ll learn about patterns! Do let us know which of these activities he liked best in the comments section!

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Author Bio

Aradhana is from India. She is a veteran writer on topics concerning parenting, child nutrition, wellness, health and lifestyle. As a regular contributor to popular sites like Huffington Post, Natural news, Elephant journal, Thehealthsite, Naturally Savvy, Curejoy and MomJunction.com.  Aradhana writes to inspire and motivate people to adopt healthy habits and live a stress-free lifestyle.

Thanks for your insights Aradhana!  I know my daughter enjoyed playing patterns with Kid K'Nex

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