How to Teach Patterns to Preschoolers

Learning about patterns is a fundamental math skill that young children begin learning in preschool. Like all math concepts, children begin with learning the basics and then build upon them. It may seem like such a basic concept to teach, but it is important to a child’s math development.

What Are Patterns?

A pattern happens when there is recurring sequence. This could be in numbers, shapes, colors, behaviors, or events. They make a predictable order making them recognizable. You can find patterns in nature, math, art, language, music, and other areas in life!

Patterns to Teach Preschoolers

Teaching patterns to preschoolers should be fun and hands-on. You will want to start with a simple AB pattern and then you could move to harder patterns, such as AAB and ABC patterns.

Teach preschoolers patterns using playful and interactive activities. Start with concrete examples to show patterns. You could use colored blocks to show a simple pattern. Show them visually so they can start to identify the repeating elements.

AB Patterns

One way I’ve found affective to teach patterns to preschoolers is with a song! We sing this song during circle time and practice continuing AB patterns.

The tune of the song is to “Clementine,” otherwise known as “Oh My Darling,” and it goes like this:

What’s the pattern?

What’s the pattern?

What’s the pattern on the board?

Red and purple. Red and purple. Red and purple.

What comes next?

I have pictures of colored objects taped to my write board and as we sing the song, I point to the colors. When I ask, “What comes next?” I show them two options for colors. I either call on a student to answer or ask the whole group. Then I tape the piece of paper on the board to continue the pattern on the board.

We do this with 3-4 AB patterns during circle time. It has greatly improved their knowledge on patterns. The song reminder really helps and it makes learning more fun!

AAB Patterns

If you were doing this with an AAB pattern, you could modify the song to this:

What’s the pattern?

What’s the pattern?

What’s the pattern on the board?

Pink, pink, yellow. Pink, pink, yellow. Pink, pink, yellow.

What comes next?

ABC Pattern

For an ABC pattern, you can sing this song:

What’s the pattern?

What’s the pattern?

What’s the pattern on the board?

Blue, orange, green. Blue, orange, green. Blue, orange, green.

What comes next?

Printable Download

I have used heart clip art, dinosaur pictures, stars, and other simple pictures to teach patterns. If you’d like to try this activity using hearts, you can download the free printable with these songs and heart clip art by filling out the form below! The printable includes 3 versions of the song and 3 whole group practice activities for each pattern type.

More Ways to Teach Patterns

I love using hands-on activities to teach little ones. With preschoolers, you can introduce patterns to them in many ways! Here are some fun ideas.

• Go on a nature walk – Collect items from nature such as leaves and flowers. Show how to make a simple pattern using the leaves and flowers.
• Use toys – While playing with toys, make a pattern with the pieces. For example, if you are playing with Magna-Tiles, show how a pattern can be a red square, blue triangle, red square, and blue triangle. Kids who are kinesthetic and visual learners will love this way of learning.
• Arrange shapes – Show how you can arrange shape tiles by size in a repeating pattern, such as small, medium, large, small, medium, large.
• Make sounds – Create a pattern using sounds! This could be something like a clap, clap, stomp, clap, clap, stomp.
• Move your body – Use your body to make a movement pattern! Have students jump, shake their hands, and touch their toes. Then repeat the movements to show the pattern.
• Practice pages – Check out this post to find practice pages for preschoolers!
• Read books – So many books use patterns and repetition. Read the books and talk about the patterns they see! Here are some of my book recommendations.

If you have an idea for teaching patterns, share in the comments below!