Materials:
Unifix cubes in two colors (any connectible blocks will do)
Directions: A pattern repeats itself over and over again. In order to demonstrate this, I gave the children two different colored cubes and asked them to stick them together. I told them they’d just created something called a sequence. When they’d finished, we laid each sequence side by side in an upright position. We checked them to see if they were all the same. We had to change two of the sequences because we wanted each sequence to have a blue cube on top and a yellow one on the bottom. When the children agreed that all the sequences were the same, we connected them together in a long “train.” We had just created a pattern, which is a sequence that repeats itself!
There are so many fun ways to explore the concept of patterns. Cutting two straws of different colors into pieces and threading them on a shoelace is one way. Or using two different colors of inch cubes or blocks and laying them end to end creates a pattern. Keep it simple with young children. Make sure they are very familiar with AB patterns before you move on to more sophisticated ones.