How does remembering a pattern help you know what comes next?

Materials:

• Colored blocks, beads, or buttons

• Tray or table space

• Cloth or paper to cover the pattern

Instructions:

• Arrange a simple pattern with colored blocks (like red-blue-red-blue) on the tray.Let children look at the pattern for 30 seconds.

• Cover the pattern.

• Ask children to recreate the pattern from memory using their own blocks or draw it on paper.

• Reveal the original and compare. Did the patterns match?

• Try with more complex patterns as children are ready.

Powerful InterACTions - PK3:

• What colors do you remember?

• Can you make the same pattern?

• Did your pattern match?

• What comes next in your pattern?

• Was it hard or easy to remember?

Powerful InterACTions - PK4:

• Can you remember a longer pattern?

• Can you describe your pattern out loud?

• How did you decide what comes next?

• What makes one pattern harder to remember than another?

• Why is remembering patterns important?