Teaching Patterning in Kindergarten: 10 Hands-On Lessons and Centre Ideas (+ FREEBIES!)

This blog post was updated on September 10, 2026 to reflect the new Ontario Kindergarten curriculum.

Hi there!

Patterning is one of my favourite math concepts to teach in Kindergarten because there are so many opportunities to explore it through movement, songs, manipulatives and play!

Although students often arrive knowing how to copy a simple colour pattern, understanding patterning involves much more than continuing red-blue-red-blue. Students need opportunities to identify and describe patterns, find the core, represent the same pattern in different ways, extend patterns in both directions and determine which elements are missing.

When I teach patterning, I use short, explicit whole-group lessons to introduce each concept and then give students lots of time to investigate it with hands-on materials during centres and play.

In this post, I’m sharing the sequence I use to teach patterning in Kindergarten, along with simple centre ideas and several FREE printables you can use with your class!

What Do Kindergarten Students Learn About Patterning?

In the 2026 Ontario Kindergarten curriculum, students investigate repeating patterns by learning to:

✔ Identify, describe and create patterns
✔ Identify the core and explain why it is important
✔ Represent the same pattern in different ways while maintaining its core
✔ Extend patterns in both directions
✔ Identify missing elements in a pattern

I usually spend about two weeks explicitly teaching patterning. However, the centres can remain available much longer so students can revisit the concepts and demonstrate their understanding in different ways.

As always, this timeline is flexible! Some classes may need more time with simple AB patterns, while others may be ready to explore more complex patterns and representations.

1. Introduce Patterns and the Core

I begin by explaining that a pattern is something arranged according to a rule. In a repeating pattern, the part that repeats over and over is called the core.

I create a simple AB colour pattern on chart paper using bingo dabbers. We look at what repeats, circle the core and then use letters to name the pattern.

For example, if the first element is red, we call it A. If the next element is different, such as yellow, we call it B. When the red-yellow core repeats, we have an AB pattern.

I model a few more AB patterns with manipulatives so students can see that the colours or objects may change while the structure stays the same.

This is an important idea to establish early: the letters name the structure of the pattern — not the particular colours, shapes or objects used.

Note: This is a completed anchor chart. On Day 1 we only add the AB pattern.

2. Explore Different Types of Repeating Patterns

Once students are comfortable identifying AB patterns, we begin exploring other repeating patterns such as:

✔ AAB
✔ ABB
✔ ABC
✔ ABCD

We add each pattern to our anchor chart using bingo dabbers, circle its core and practise naming it together.

I don’t expect every student to master every pattern type immediately. The anchor chart becomes a tool students can refer to during centres, and I continue modelling the language throughout the unit.

Play dough is another hands-on way to practise creating and naming different patterns. Students can make play dough balls directly on the mat, identify the core and add the corresponding pattern label.

3. Extend and Name Patterns

Next, we practise extending patterns and explaining how we know what comes next.

One of my favourite whole-group activities is Mystery Patterns. I invite students to stand at the front of the room and arrange them according to a secret pattern. You could create a pattern using clothing colours, sleeve lengths, shoes or another visible attribute.

The rest of the class studies the pattern, uses the anchor chart to help name it and determines who or what should come next.

Starting with people and actions makes patterning concrete and engaging — especially for students who aren’t yet ready to work with more abstract pictures or symbols.

I then provide similar opportunities at centres using manipulatives such as pattern blocks, snap cubes and counting bears.

4. Reproduce and Extend Patterns with Familiar Materials

At centres, I like to offer a variety of materials so students can reproduce and extend patterns in different ways.

These pattern cards can be used with:

✔ Pattern blocks
✔ Snap cubes or linking cubes
✔ Counting bears
✔ Building bricks
✔ Pony beads
✔ Loose parts

Some cards show the complete pattern for students to reproduce underneath. Others provide part of the pattern and invite students to extend it.

These familiar formats make differentiation easy. One student might reproduce an AB pattern while another extends an ABC or ABCD pattern using the same materials.

5. Create Patterns Using Different Attributes

Colour is usually the easiest attribute for students to notice, so it is a natural place to begin. However, I also want students to understand that patterns can be created using many different attributes.

We explore patterns involving:

✔ Shape
✔ Size
✔ Number
✔ Position
✔ Texture
✔ Actions or sounds

Counting bears are perfect for showing the difference between colour and size patterns. Two patterns might both be AB patterns even if one alternates red and blue bears while the other alternates large and small bears.

This helps students focus on the underlying structure instead of assuming that all patterns must be based on colour.

6. Create Patterns Independently

After students have had lots of experience reproducing and extending patterns, I begin providing more open-ended invitations to create their own.

A simple pattern mat can be paired with almost any classroom material. Students create a pattern, name it and explain its rule.

You can add:

✔ Mini erasers
✔ Buttons
✔ Pom-poms
✔ Natural materials
✔ Magnetic letters
✔ Small building materials
✔ Any loose parts already available in your classroom

I love this type of centre because there is no single correct finished product. Students can enter the activity at their own level, make choices and demonstrate what they understand.

As students work, I listen for their mathematical thinking. Can they identify the core? Can they name the pattern? Can they explain how they know what should come next?

7. Represent the Same Pattern in Different Ways

One of the biggest shifts in the updated curriculum is the explicit focus on showing that a pattern can be represented in different ways because its core remains the same.

I begin with an AB pattern made from two colours of snap cubes. Then I invite students to represent that same AB structure using different attributes or materials.

For example, students might create:

• A red-blue-red-blue colour pattern
• A circle-square-circle-square shape pattern
• A clap-stomp-clap-stomp action pattern
• A big-small-big-small size pattern

All four look or sound different, but they share the same AB core.

8. Find Patterns in Everyday Life

Patterns are everywhere, and students love looking for them!

We explore patterns in:

✔ Clothing
✔ Classroom materials
✔ Buildings and floor tiles
✔ Nature
✔ Music
✔ Songs and movement
✔ Calendars and routines

I use my Patterns in Our Life slides to display photographs and discuss the patterns we notice. Students can also go on a pattern hunt around the classroom or school and share what they find.

The goal is to help students recognize that patterning is not just a math-centre activity. Patterns help us organize, predict and make sense of the world around us.

9. Extend Patterns in Both Directions

Students are often asked what comes next in a pattern, but extending a pattern to the left requires deeper thinking.

I begin with only the core—for example, one red cube followed by one blue cube. We identify it as an AB core and then work together to extend it to the right and to the left.

I ask questions such as:

• What would come next?
• What would come immediately before the red cube?
• How does knowing the core help us?
• How can we check that the pattern still follows its rule?

Counting bear cards provide a hands-on way for students to practise extending colour and size patterns in both directions.

10. Identify Missing Elements

Once students understand the core and can extend patterns, we investigate missing elements.

I start with a whole-group chart containing patterns with one or more blank spaces. Students determine what belongs in each space and, most importantly, explain how they know.

Knowing the core gives students a strategy. Instead of guessing based only on the element beside the blank, they can identify the repeating unit and use it to determine what is missing.

At centres, students can complete missing-element cards using pattern blocks or loose pieces.

Patterning Mini Books

Mini books are a great way for students to document their learning over several days.

I like to use a different material on each page. Students might use bingo dabbers one day, stickers the next and stamps or crayons on another day.

Some students benefit from an open-ended page, while others may need the pattern type provided. Offering both options allows everyone to work on the same overall activity with an appropriate amount of support.

Patterning and Fine Motor Skills

Many of our patterning activities also provide meaningful fine motor practice.

Students can thread pony beads onto pipe cleaners to reproduce or extend patterns. This takes concentration and coordination—and it is always a popular centre!

Students can also use tongs to place pom-poms in ice cube trays, press play dough, connect building bricks or add tiny stickers to pattern pages.

The math concept remains the focus, but the hands-on materials make the learning engaging and accessible while supporting fine motor development at the same time.

FREE Kindergarten Patterning Activities

Would you like to try some of these activities with your class? I have three FREE patterning printables you can download:

Ready-to-Use Kindergarten Patterning Lessons and Centres

If you’d like all of the lessons and centre activities ready to go, you can find them in my Kindergarten Patterning Lessons & Centres resource.

It includes:

✔ 10 structured whole-group lesson plans
✔ Pattern block, pony bead, building brick and snap cube activities
✔ Colour, shape and size patterns
✔ Open-ended loose-parts and play dough mats
✔ Pattern mini books
✔ Find-the-core activities
✔ Pattern labels and supports
✔ Extending-in-both-directions activities
✔ Missing-element activities
✔ Patterns in Our Life teaching slides

The activities use familiar materials and consistent routines so students can work independently during centres while you meet with a small group.

👉 See the Kindergarten Patterning Lessons & Centres

This resource is also included in my Printable Year-Long Kindergarten Math Bundle and the complete Ontario Kindergarten Math System. If you already own one of those larger resources, you already have access to it!

I hope these lessons and activities make teaching patterning a little easier and give your students lots of meaningful opportunities to investigate patterns through hands-on learning!