Patterning exercises help students strengthen observation skills, build problem solving skills, develop visual discrimination, and reinforce early math skills. We found this adorable animal-themed patterning exercise at Creative Tots and thought it would provide your preschoolers the perfect introduction to patterns {although, your students will still love the activity even if they're already familiar with the concept!}. What do you get when you cross patterning with caterpillars? PATTERNPILLARS!
Activity Considerations
- While the original project makes use of a simple ABAB pattern, if you feel your students are up to it, try more complicated patterns with more than two colors.
- Have students create patternpillars based on pom pom size rather than color {i.e. big, little, big, little or big, little, little, big, little, little, etc.}.
- Provide students with both pom poms and spherical wooden beads {or another such material}, inviting them to determine patterns based on how the material feels - soft/hard, fuzzy/smooth, etc.
