Month 2 · Lesson 3 — Patterns: What Comes Next?

Word of the lessonpattern

A pattern is shapes, colours, sounds or numbers that repeat in the same order.

Three kinds of patterns

●■ ●■ AB AB

▲▲★ ▲▲★ AAB

●●● ● growing!

Mission 1 · about 8 minutes

Mission 1: Spot it

Read the pattern out loud with your finger. Find the part that repeats. Then tap the tile that comes next.

Question 1 of 6colour pattern

Hmm… which part keeps coming back?

Scoreboard

Get 4 or more right on your first try to finish Mission 1.

Stuck? Try this

Point under each tile and say it out loud: “red circle… blue square… red circle…” Your ear will hear the repeat.

Super-detective question

Can you make the pattern again with your hands? Clap, snap, clap, snap…

Mission 2 · about 8 minutes

Mission 2: Build it

Pick a bead from the tray, then tap the string. Make a pattern that repeats — and listen to it read back to you.

Bead tray

Your string is empty. Tap a bead, then tap a circle on the string. Start with two that are the same, two that are different — like ● ● ■ ■.

Mission 3 · about 5 minutes

Mission 3: Say it — count by twos

Even numbers are a pattern too! They jump by 2 every time. Help Frog hop across the pond: tap 2, 4, 6… all the way to 20.

Ready…

Frog says

“Ribbit! Start at 2. Then skip one, then the next!”

Mission 4 · about 5 minutes

Mission 4: Find it

Some of these rows repeat. Some don't. Tap every row that is a real pattern, then press Check.

Story time · 3 minutes

The Necklace for Grandma

Mira had a jar of beads. One red, one blue, one red, one blue. “A necklace needs a pattern,” said Grandma. “So it never ends.”

Mira strung red, blue, red, blue all the way around. But the string was long, and the jar was almost empty.

“What comes next, Mira?” Grandma asked. Mira looked. She did not need to look at the picture. She only needed to listen to the pattern.

“Red,” said Mira. “Then blue. Then red. Then blue. Forever.”

📿

● ● ● ● ?

Think & talkWhat comes next? How did you know? Tell the person beside you: “I knew because the repeating part is ___.”

Screen-off ideas · at the table, on the floor

Patterns in real life

Pick one. Patterns are best with your hands and your feet.

5 min

🍇

Snack pattern

Line up 6 grapes and 6 cereal rings: grape–ring–grape–ring. Eat it in the right order. Don't break the pattern on the last one!

10 min

🧵

Button bracelet

Thread buttons onto wool in a pattern you choose. Ask: “Is your repeating part two buttons long, or three?”

7 min

👣

Walk the pattern

Paper squares on the floor. Step and say: heel–toe, heel–toe. Then make a harder one: jump, spin, clap. Repeat it three times.

anytime

🔎

Home hunt

Find 3 patterns hiding in your house: tiles, a zipper, stripes on a sock, fence posts, the days of the week.

8 min

✏️

Finish the row

Draw the first half of a pattern. Fold the paper so your grown-up can't see. Then unfold — were they right?

2 min

🎵

Song patterns

Sing “Twinkle, Twinkle.” Which part comes back again and again? That's a pattern you can hear, not see.

Your badge

Four missions, four stars ⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finish a mission and a star lights up. Get all four and the stamp comes out!

Pattern
Detective
M2·L3

Certificate of Curiosity

Month 2 · Lesson 3 — Patterns

can spot the repeating part · can finish a pattern · can count by twos

Parent & teacher corner

Month 2 · Lesson 3 — Patterns: What Comes Next? (approx. 25 min, ages 5–7)

What we're building

Recognising the unit of repeat (AB, AAB, growing).
Extending a sequence — early algebra thinking.
Counting by twos as a number pattern.
Predicting, explaining, checking.

Words to use out loud

“The repeating part is ___.”
“What comes next? How do you know?”
“Is this a pattern? Prove it.”
“Can you make the same pattern a different way?”

Watch for

Copying a pattern correctly with hands or beads.
Saying the unit of repeat before answering.
Counting by twos without skipping a pad.
If it's easy, cover the last tile and ask for tile #20.

Stretch it (optional)

Turn the bead pattern into a sound pattern.
Ask: “What if my pattern is ABB? What's the 10th bead?”
Find a pattern that goes wrong — fix the mistake.

Next lesson — Month 2 · Lesson 4: Growing Patterns. We keep the AB and AAB ideas and start asking about the 10th one without building all ten. Bring the buttons.