Activities that support advanced pattern recognition skills

Did you know that out of all the mental skills we possess, pattern recognition appears to be the skill mostly highly correlated with general intelligence? Clearly, then, we should help children develop their pattern recognition skills as much as possible. In this post I share several activities that support advanced pattern recognition skills.

But what is pattern recognition?

Pattern recognition is the ability to see order in chaos. Patterns can be found in words, numbers, symbols, schedules, behaviors, and more.

Note: For more math activities, resources, and printables, see my Math Activities for Kids page. 

Since my children were quite young, we have been working on pattern recognition skills. Several years ago I posted about some basic patterning activities I did with my son. And my printables packs and do-a-dot printables sets include basic patterning activities focused on AB, AAB, ABB, and ABC patterns.

Once my kids had mastered these basic patterns, I knew I needed to up my game. So I put together some activities focused on advanced pattern recognition skills of two or more patterns combined.

In this post I’m showing you some of the patterns I put together for my kids to hopefully inspire you to try something similar with your own children.

AB pattern combined with ABC pattern

One of the first patterns I put together for my son used three different colors of tiles. The tiles alternated between standing up and laying down (the AB pattern) as well as between yellow, blue, and red tiles (the ABC pattern). QBoy used additional tiles to continue the pattern. Can you see that the next shape in the pattern will be a blue tile that stands up?

AB pattern combined with ABC pattern

In another version of an AB pattern combined with an ABC pattern, I laid out circles and lines. The circles alternated between plain blue circles and red circles with yellow lines (AB pattern). The circles also changed sizes from small to medium to large (the ABC pattern). Can you see that the next shape in the pattern below will be a small red circle with a yellow line through it?

ABC pattern combined with AAABBB pattern

With this pattern my son had to recognize the increasing pattern of small, medium, and large circles (the ABC pattern) as well as the fact that every three circles the color switched between red and blue (the AAABBB pattern). Can you see that the next shape in the pattern below will be a small blue circle?

 Three overlapping patterns

This pattern got a bit more complicated, with at least three overlapping aspects to it.

Every other shape was a yellow square. That wasn’t too difficult to see. But the shapes in between the yellow squares alternated between diamonds and circles. The circles were all blue. But the diamonds alternated between green and red. Can you see that the next item in the pattern below will be a red diamond?

Three overlapping patterns

This was the most complicated pattern I put together for my son to figure out. There are three overlapping patterns here. The first is an AB pattern of blue vertical stick and no stick. The second is an ABC pattern of cube, cylinder, sphere. The third is an ABCD pattern of yellow, orange, blue, purple. Can you see that the next item in the pattern below is a blue cube with a vertical stick in it?

It is always a good idea to introduce new concepts like these advanced patterns using materials your children can physically manipulate, as shown in the photos below. However, if you like these activities and if your children are ready, you may also want to check out my Advanced Pattern Worksheets as well. These worksheets provide additional practice with several different types of advanced patterns.

More resources for teaching math

More math activities from Gift of Curiosity:

• Building a 3D rainbow measurement activity
• Matching and ordering by size
• Venn diagram sorting practice
• Teaching combinations of 10
• Estimating an apple’s circumference
• Introduction to probability
• Math practice with numbered dice
• Put the numbers on the clothesline
• Road numbers

For more activities, resources, and printables for teaching math, see my Math Activities for Kids page and my Math Pinterest board.