Pattern Train

The big ideas

What the levels teach, in grown-up words.

• A pattern is something that repeats. Red, blue, red, blue has a two-part core; red, blue, blue has a three-part core. Finding the core is the key to continuing any pattern.
• Patterns are everywhere. Stripes, songs, days of the week and the beat of a drum are all patterns. Ears can find them as well as eyes.
• Growing patterns change by a rule. Towers of 1, 2, 3 grow by one. Towers of 2, 4, 6 grow by two. Towers of 1, 2, 4, 8 double. The rule tells you the next one.
• Skip counting is a number pattern. 5, 10, 15, 20 is the pattern add five. Knowing the jump lets you continue without counting every number.
• Two patterns can run at once. A train can have a color pattern and a shape pattern together. Check each pattern on its own, then combine the answers.

Try it at home

Quick experiments that match the game.

1. Bead or cereal necklace. String beads or cereal loops in a pattern: two red, one yellow, repeat. Then make a different pattern and ask someone to continue it.
2. Clap and stomp. Make a body-sound pattern: clap, clap, stomp. Keep it going together, then change one sound and see who notices.
3. Calendar patterns. Look at a calendar: the days of the week repeat every seven days. Find the pattern in the numbers going down a column.
4. Staircase towers. Build block towers that grow by one, then by two. Ask: how tall would the tenth tower be?