◾️▫️Patterns are everywhere! 🐞🦓🍀
When we think about patterns, we often visualise a repeating pattern; black, white, black, white or square, circle, square, circle.
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Children’s brains are wired to start spotting patterns everywhere from a very young age. It’s therefore our job to point out these patterns and describe them using mathematical vocabulary, using words such as before, next, follow, after, between, repeat, same, different. If children can recognise, create and describe different patterns then it will support them in learning number sequences and basic number operations. Understanding pattern can also help children to make connections and predictions. Patterns are everywhere. There are patterns on wallpaper, clothing, animals, nature, as well as the more abstract patterns such as the patterns of the seasons and the days of the week (cyclical patterns). When we sing a song, such as heads, shoulders, knees and toes, we can highlight the repetition of the pattern of actions. Ask the question - “what always follows ‘head’?” Can your little wonderer remember the pattern? 🌿🌳☘️Last week, I challenged two little wonderers (also known as my nephew, aged 6, and my friend’s daughter, aged 8 ) to go outside and photograph some patterns in nature. The photos on this post are all taken by them! Simply beautiful! When you’re next outside, take some time to spot the patterns around you. Believe me, they’re everywhere! Take the time to talk about the patterns that you can see. Are any of them similar? Do they remind you of anything else? Which pattern is your favourite and why? 🌺🍄🐚 Here are a few more ideas you can try to help your wonderers to identify and describe patterns that they see and hear... - Clap a pattern and ask your little wonderer to repeat the same pattern. - Try making half of a picture (a butterfly is great to get you started) and ask your wonderer to copy the pattern onto the other side, making it symmetrical. - Sing songs where there is a pattern, like a repeating chorus or line. - Read stories involving repetition and talk about the pattern. - Compare different patterns that you see everyday and talk about them. ⭐️ Language is so important to enable children to develop and to understand maths concepts. Let’s get spotting patterns and more importantly, let’s get talking about them! ⭐️ #eyfs #eyfsideas #eyfsmaths #earlyyears #earlyyearsideas #naturalresources #patterns
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