Developed in partnership with Education Services Australia

The Australian Curriculum sets the goal for what all students should learn as they progress through their school life. Skills in the Year 1-2 curriculum include:

• identifying, describing and creating everyday patterns
• creating, representing and continuing a variety of patterns with numbers and objects
• describing number patterns formed by skip counting, starting from any number
• describing repeating patterns and number patterns made with objects.

It’s easy to help your child practise these skills as part of everyday life – just use these simple ideas.

Spot, listen for and create patterns

Understanding patterns is an important step in maths, and an easy one to practise – patterns are everywhere! For example, you and your child could:

• look for shape patterns – eg in fences, wrapping paper, clothing, mats, wallpaper, floor tiles. What is the repeating pattern?
• notice patterns in the ways things are arranged – eg packets in the supermarket, books in a catalogue, lounge cushions in a housing magazine
• listen for patterns in rhymes, songs and music. What is being repeated? Can you make your own variation?
• create your own repeating patterns
  
  Let's make a paper chain with a repeating pattern in your football team's colours. 
• use stamps or stickers to make pattern borders – eg on artworks, table decorations, birthday cards
• create patterns with food – eg sliced fruit on a platter, icing on a cake, toppings on a pizza
• notice patterns in numbers – eg when you count by 5s, the last digit alternates 5/0/5/0/5/0.

Go online

For online reinforcement, What comes next in line? will give your child practice at:

• recognising repeated patterns.

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