Repeat, then Eat!: A Patterning Game
Topics: Kindergarten, Math
This incredibly edible activity gives kindergarteners the chance to practice identifying, copying and extending basic patterns. Sure it’s fun (and delicious!) but it will also help kids lay the foundation for math, reading, and other curriculum cornerstones. Patterning teaches kindergarteners to look for what’s the same and what’s different, in addition to the order, or sequence, things occur. And this activity makes it feel like play.
What You Need:
Edible materials that are similar in color or shape, and easy to handle, such as M&M candies, a bag of trail mix or dried fruit mixture, colored fruit snacks, a bag of mixed cereal, colored goldfish crackers, carrot and celery sticks, or anything else your kid likes to eat, that’s not too mushy.
How to Play:
1) Build a simple pattern on the table. Let’s say you use M&Ms. Start with an alternating pattern (called an AB pattern): one red candy, one green candy, one red, one green, and so forth. Be sure to repeat the pattern at least once.
2) Call your kid over. Tell him you’ve set the candies up in a pattern and challenge him to figure out what it is.
3) Get your kid in on the action! Ask her to copy the pattern, by building a sequence that’s exactly like yours. Then ask her to explain how she did it, with questions like: “How did you know to start with a red?” or “Why did you use a green here?”
4) Ask your child to extend, or add more to the pattern. Again, ask him to explain why he chose to use certain colors or shapes.
5) Finally, ask your child to tell what part of the sequence was repeated in this pattern. For example, say, “What colors did we repeat?” (Red, then green.)
Celebrate your patterning success! This activity is even more fun with a catchphrase. I always end things by saying, “Patterns: we repeat and then we eat!”
Be good to your word. Once the learning’s over, let your child scoop up their lesson and eat away!
And don’t worry, when the snack monster strikes again, you can pick up where you left off. Some more difficult patterns that you can practice with kindergarteners, once they’ve mastered the art of the AB pattern, are AAB, ABB, AABB and ABC. Happy eating!
Liana Mahoney is a National Board Certified elementary teacher, currently teaching a first and second grade loop. She is also a certified Reading Specialist, with teaching experience as a former high school English teacher, and early grades Remedial Reading.
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