Patterns are all around us—in the natural world, from the leaves on trees to waves in the ocean, and in man-made structures like skyscrapers and houses. Musicians, painters and printmakers all use patterns to craft their works of art too!
Exploring patterns in a variety of forms is a fantastic way to help early learners build basic math skills and can help them comprehend more complex algebraic and scientific topics later on. For young children, this can start with looking for patterns in colors, shapes, sounds, or school or home routines. With older children, use patterns to identify scientific phenomena like how weather can be predicted over time. Or explore tessellations, geometric forms that combine math and art in exciting ways!
Learn all about patterns in everyday life and big scientific concepts with the videos, games, and crafts below. Then, keep the fun going with Learn Along Bingo sheets full of printable activities and everyday learning ideas for children grades Pre-K to 2!
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Explore Patterns
Explore Patterns | Sesame Street
Grades PreK-K
Explore patterns through music and activities in a fun way with Sesame Street!
Using Patterns to Boost Your Child’s Math Skills
Grades PreK-3
Learn how patterns can help your preschool or early elementary school student build serious math skills!
80s Mathroom | The Odd Squad
Grades K-2
Learn about patterns with the Odd Squad. Oprah and O’Donahue visit the Mathroom for help identifying patterns to solve a case.
Patterns | DIY Science Time
Grades 3-8
Dah dit dah dit… Let’s decode some of the profound patterns of science with Mister C and the Science Crew. We explore Morse code, Caesar ciphers, fractals, and many more amazing patterns!
Pattern Math: Measuring & Sewing Costumes | STEAM on Stage & Screen
Grades 6-12
Math and costume creation are inseparable! Join host Stephond Brunson as he explores the world of costume design with expert seamstress, Bethany Itterly. Bethany discusses how geometric concepts and mathematical reasoning are essential components to creating customized costumes for many different body types on stage and screen. She also divulges some tools and tricks of the tailoring trade! Learn how she uses math in her creations, the physical tools she needs to measure and craft her art, then have students explore the role of geometry in fashion.
Games, Crafts & Activities
Use Math While Baking Peg’s Honey Cake
Grades PreK-K
Peg and her friends find math all around them, including in the kitchen. As you bake and decorate a delicious honey cake, look for all the ways you use math — from measuring the ingredients, to setting the oven temperature and timer, to decorating the cake with geometric patterns.
Odd Squad Codebreaker Game
Grades K-2
This game from Odd Squad will help children with counting and cardinal numbers, and identifying and counting patterns in 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s.
Tessellating Stamps
Grades K-12
Artist Thomas Freese shows how to make a tessellating stamp and use it to create an interlocking pattern. The lesson integrates mathematics and art as the process involves using geometry, measurement, repetition, and patterning to create unusual, appealing designs.
Cyberchase Pattern Player Game
Grades 3-5
Musical beats are a great way to learn about mathematical patterns. Join your child in making visual patterns that play sounds with this game from Cyberchase.
Observations of Climate Change
Grades 6-12
This interactive lesson introduces students to the various ways that people work to understand climate change, particularly in the Arctic. Scientists look for patterns within data sets to help them formulate research questions and then develop predictions that they can test. Students will think about climate change in their own community, collecting and summarizing their own data to form a testable prediction about climate change.
Learn Along Bingo
With Learn Along Bingo, children can view, explore, and play as they learn alongside their PBS KIDS friends on the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel. We hope your family will use it to inspire learning each and every day.
This time, we’re learning how to recognize patterns and build basic math skills. Recognizing patterns is important because it helps us to develop investigation and prediction skills. Eventually, we learn how to solve even more challenging problems!
Grades PreK-K
Play & Learn: In this packet, there are printable activities and everyday learning ideas for you and your child to choose from. As you complete each square, mark it off to celebrate the learning!
Grades 1-2
Play & Learn: In this packet, there are printable activities and everyday learning ideas for you and your child to choose from. As you complete each square, mark it off to celebrate the learning!
For even more games and educational resources for young learners, go to the Playing With Patterns Collection on PBS KIDS for Parents.