Early Childhood

How can young students fix, duplicate, and extend A-B patterns while working in clay or other 3D media?

Students will use reasoning, make logical connections, and make predictions for mathematical relationships.

• colorful small objects or loose parts in two or more variations (we used two different color gems)
• air-dry modeling clay or modeling compound such as Play-Doh (a small ball per student)

Step 1
Pass out modeling clay to students. Have them practice rolling and flattening their dough, utilizing fine motor skills.

Step 2
Provide colorful small objects in two variations, such as red and green craft gems. Share enough with students for them to create a pattern on their rolled dough.

Step 3
Students experiment with different patterns, pressing objects into the clay to create A-B or A-B-B patterns.

Step 4
Students continue their pattern, extending it to fill the entire space.

Did students construct patterns from small objects or loose parts? Can they explain their pattern? Did they extend the pattern to fill the space?

Supervise children closely when handling small objects that may present a choking hazard.

Sue Liedke is an art teacher at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a contributing editor for SchoolArts.