Materials
Story
Straw hat
Velcro stripping
Scissors
Magazines or assorted small items related to the story
Instructions
The following activities reinforce the children's learning about patterns in
different ways. Do one, or do them all, day in and day out!
1. Cereal Patterns: Arrange some decorative, yummy food bits, such as banana
slices, raisins, and blueberries, in little custard cups to add to hot oatmeal.
Encourage the children to add them one at a time, creating a pattern on the
cereal. Then eat!
2. Painting Patterns:
Fingerpainting: Pour a puddle of liquid starch on a piece of paper. Add a little
tempera paint or food coloring. Encourage the children to draw patterns with
all five fingers at once, dragging them through the paint to make designs.
Feet Prints: Help each child step into a pan of paint with one bare foot, and
then step onto a big sheet of paper. Encourage the child to make footprint
patterns across the paper. Rinse foot in a tub of warm soapy water.
3. Ladybug Patterns: Look at a real ladybug or a picture of a ladybug. Now
make Ladybug Prints! Cut a sponge into a circle and press it into red paint.
Encourage the children to make a red circle print on a piece of paper, then
make lots of red circles. Let dry briefly. Now they can dip a finger into black
paint and make black dots on the ladybug's red back.
4. Pattern Kabobs: Make fruit kabobs or veggie kabobs on skewers with chunks
of food. Make a pattern of colors or types of food. For example,
pineapple/strawberry, pineapple/strawberry; or red/white/yellow (strawberry,
banana, pineapple). Discover that some patterns have colors and tastes.
5. Butterfly Toast: Cut a slice of toasted bread in half from corner to corner.
Now turn the halves around with points facing each other on the center of
the plate. These are the butterfly's wings. Next, in small dishes mix some food
coloring with milk. Make one color, or several colors. Encourage the children
to use a small, clean paintbrush to paint symmetrical designs on the wings.
For example, if you paint a yellow dot on the right wing, make a yellow dot
on the left wing, too. Blue oval on the right wing? Blue oval on the left wing
too. When done, look at the symmetry of the butterfly toast.
6. Happy/Sad Cards: One type of simple pattern that children recognize is the
expression of happy and sad faces. Cut out magazine pictures of faces that
are happy and faces that are sad and paste them on index cards. Ask the
children to sort them into two piles one for happy and one for sad.
7. Nail Board Patterns: Hammer broad-head nails around the border of a
square of wood (8" x 8" works well), about 1" apart. Now take colored
rubber bands and make stretchy patterns from one nail to another. Make
plaid, stripes, diamonds, or other combinations. Encourage the children to
discover how to create patterns that can be changed and rearranged using the
same materials.
Original poem
ABC Patterns (by MaryAnn F. Kohl)
Pattern A, pattern A, all the kids love pattern A,
Clap, clap, clap and stamp, stamp, stamp
(make up patterns with clapping hands and stomping feet)
Pattern A is fun to play.
Pattern B, pattern B, all the kids love pattern B,
Clapitty, clap, clap and stamp and stamp,
Pattern B is fun to play.
Pattern C, pattern C, all the kids love C,
Clap, clap, stomp and clap, clap, stomp,
Pattern C is fun to play.
