Patterns
Patterns are everywhere! See how many you can make with your child.
Pattern Types
Here are some characteristics that can be used by themselves or mixed together:
- Movement patterns: stepping, jumping, waving, nodding
- Sound patterns: clapping, knee slapping, tongue clicking, stamping
- Loudness patterns: soft, medium, loud
- Visual patterns: color, shape, size
Player one: makes a pattern and challenges the other person to repeat it. (Step, clap, jump)
Player two: can repeat and eventually add to the pattern, challenging player one to repeat it. (Step, clap, jump, touch their nose)
As you get better, challenge each other to repeat longer and longer patterns from memory.
You can use a pattern as a secret code for getting through a passageway. You can also make necklaces with your child by taking string and threading on beads or bits of food to create repeating patterns. Walking hand in hand, you can use squeeze patterns (short short long, etc.).
Puzzles
For older children, create puzzles by drawing a pattern of shapes on paper. One person establishes a pattern and then leaves gaps in the sequence for the other to fill in.
Helping your Child
First and foremost, playing math games should be fun, like any other game your family plays together!
Please let your child make poor plays (mistakes) without correction, and resist the urge to tell them the best ways to play. Bit by bit, your child will get better at the game, and they will learn so much more if you let them figure things out. There is no hurry.
If you see your child make a mistake, ask them to describe why they decided to do what they did. If your child is stuck and doesn’t know which play to make, ask them to describe the pros and cons of their choices, or ask them about how they solved a similar situation in the past. If your child doesn’t remember how to do a calculation, discuss with them the methods they know for figuring it out. These conversations are important for helping your child to develop mathematically.
Through math game play and math conversations, you are helping your child learn to enjoy math and develop important problem solving skills.