Working on pattern recognition is an important area to practice with your Kindergartner. The ability to recognize, follow and predict patterns is an important early math skill. It will go along way to help prepare your child for the more complex mathematical work ahead of them. Understanding patterns also helps your child to understand and deal with the chaotic environment around them, as they learn to do things in the correct order. Have fun working making patterns together, with our Invitation to make Patterns with Loose Parts pattern activity.
The term loose parts relates to any object which was can moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up and taken apart and put back together. Playing with loose parts is a popular activity in preschools and upwards to help children develop their skills in creativity, flexibility and independence. Their naturally inquisitive young minds can’t help but be drawn to explore loose items placed in front of them.
I help out in my daughter’s Kindergarten class once a week. One recent pattern activity was to make and follow patterns by threading beads onto a string. My daughter was just starting to grasp the concept when we had to finish up. So to help reinforce these skills at home, I came up with this fun activity.
Pattern Activity: Create Patterns with Loose Parts
You can create patterns from any loose parts from around your home or classroom. We used:
We sat down together to play and it wasn’t long before Bella’s big brother appeared to see what we were doing. I explained that we were working on making patterns together and he was keen to help out. Bella adores her big brother and listens to his instructions much better than mine, so I let him start off a few patterns for his little sister to follow.
She got off to a great start and worked really well with her brother, as he made each subsequent pattern a little harder. We then encouraged her to have a go at starting off some patterns of her own and she had fun picking out her favorite objects from the tray to use.
Big brother then wandered back to his own tasks and left Bella using her loose parts to build some cool constructions. We may have wandered away from the original brief of making patterns, but this didn’t mean that her learning had ended. The beautiful thing about playing with loose parts is that the activity can go off in many different directions.
So what began as a simple math activity, grew into an engineering experiment that was filled with laughter and imaginative play. We can’t wait to play with loose parts again soon.