Kids love patterns.  They also love seasonal activities.  The problem is that I don’t want to spend $10 and up on pattern building materials that are often cute and seasonal, but not necessarily flexible.  I like easy, effective, and efficient materials.  Sprinkling in a little fun also helps.

What do I mean by easy, effective, and efficient?  Well, to be honest, I’ve been burned.  I have spent hours setting up Montessori inspired shelves that my kids have spent 10 minutes on.   For some reason, I have done this many times (that is what happens when you are sleep deprived, you can’t see your own patterns).  I like easy things that take less than 10 minutes to set up.

If they love an activity, I can add extensions to it.   This means I haven’t wasted all my precious time on something that isn’t going to get any results.  I like effective things that do a good job of teaching a skill.   I also like efficient materials.  This might mean that it does a good job of teaching the skill in a timely manner or it might mean that the materials were an efficient investment because they can serve multiple purposes.

This is an easy, effective and efficient presentation of Halloween patterns.  This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  You can read my full disclosure here.

Pattern building is an early math skill and I love math. This is also an important skill in reading and organizing/understanding the natural world. We used the cutouts I had picked up at the teacher supply store . No prep work. No intense planning. I opened the bag and we got started.

I just began making patterns and working with my kiddos to extend the pattern. If you have elementary age kids, this is still a great exercise and increases their exposure and hopefully their development of algebraic thinking.  You can also create Halloween patterns with erasers or candy  These cutouts can be used in other projects.

My little guy
ABABAB…

My bigger little guy
ABBAABBBAAA….

Want to find out more about STEAM education?

Are you struggling to wrap your head around the concept of STEAM education?  You can get a little more background in my post here.

If you have specific questions, you can email me at kim@learninghypothesis.com .  Don’t be afraid of STEAM.  Kids love it and you should too.

Interested in more Halloween STEAM, but feeling a little rushed?  The new STEAM Kids Halloween ebook has over 10 STEAM activities for you and the kids to explore.  It is on sale for $4.99.

 

 

 

 

I am sharing at
Montessori Monday
Show and Tell
It’s Playtime!
Math Monday