Pattern blocks are a type of math manipulative that you commonly find in primary grade classrooms and beyond. They are great for learning geometry and a fun way to build spacial awareness as well. I blogged about pattern blocks back in the summer - here.
Pattern blocks are a great teaching tool to have at home for your children to play and learn with. I started this post as a way to share this link for making Christmas themed pictures using pattern blocks: http://prekinders.com/2009/11/christmas-pattern-blocks/
(That should be where I stopped typing but instead...I wrote a short dissertation. Clearly I'm stalling on my holiday to-do list!)
I thought I'd re-cap some of the toys that we play with at our house that use pattern blocks and offer a couple good websites for free printables of templates for pattern blocks. All of the products listed can be bought at Amazon.com or locally at most toy stores. It's actually quite amazing the selection of pattern blocks that you can buy at Amazon - wood, foam, see-through, magnetic, template sets, kits, etc. (Hop over there if you aren't familiar with what pattern blocks are!)
Melissa and Doug makes a wooden set - "Pattern Blocks & Boards" which has pre-printed images that the child lays the blocks onto. This has been a favorite toy for years! To extend my kindergartners learning with this I have him record the number of each of the shapes that he uses to create the picture.
Melissa and Doug also makes a toy for younger children (2+) called Beginner Pattern Blocks. These are great for wee little ones because the blocks fit into place and do not slide around. Each pictures requires less tiles and they are simple to solve. My daughter is an expert at this and loves to sit and play with it. The other set is still a bit frustrating because the tiles slide but she plays with both now.
Mightymind Set - is a activity set that has 32 colorful design tiles that store in a plastic tray. It has sequentially numbered puzzle cards for the child to build increasingly difficult pictures. Clearly people have known about this toy for some time since "over 3 million sets have been sold in 20 countries around the world" but I just discovered it this past fall. It's marketed for ages 3-8 but my 2.5 year old enjoys it and my six year old finished it quickly. I like that it gets increasingly more difficult as they take the color and outline supports out from the cards as they get progressively more challenging. The brochure for the product states, "MightyMind encourages and entices a child to think, explore and discover the fascinating way simple shapes can be combined to form intricate delightful pictures and designs. Children learn to solve puzzles without assistance. No language or reading is required." I think this is a great set to buy but the blocks are smaller than free templates that I found online. The tiles are plastic and I prefer the M&D wood ones, but this company also offers a magnetic set which would be fun on the go.
Another choice is make paper pattern blocks using card stock. The drawback is the paper ones shift when making patterns and they don't have the same feel as wood one.
The paper ones do make fun craft projects, though I'd advise an adult precuting the shapes so building with them comes out symmetrical. Here's a site for paper pattern blocks. http://www.heidisongs.com/Free_Downloads/assets/Pattern_Block_Masters.pdf
Also check out Heidi's blog post about using pattern blocks to build letters - http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2010/06/printed-alphabet-pattern-blocks-and.html
Other good sites for free pattern block templates:
One of my favorite preschool websites has a wealth of pattern block templates: http://prekinders.com/pattern-blocks/ (These come in both color and black and white so you can offer differing amounts of support.)
One of my favorite Kindergarten bloggers Mrs. Wills has free pattern block templates. Just click on the picture and it takes you to her Goggle docs for free. These are smaller than the pattern blocks that I own but I love that it challenges my son to 'free build' using the template as a guide. It doesn't allow him to just lay the tiles on tops of the template so his mind is working at another level!
http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com/2011/07/math-work-stations-blog-party-chapter-7.html
This site is geared for slightly older children but lovely designs. http://www.patternblocktemplates.com/category/science-technology/
Links to other learning using pattern blocks -- quilting, snowflakes, symmetrical building, art
Of my....I think I will be spending more time with pattern blocks this winter! But back now to my holiday to-do list!
Merry Christmas!
~April
Showing posts with label geometry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label geometry. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Geometry
This week's Math Work Station chapter was about Geometry. I know I keep saying this, but I am SOOOO thankful for all the wonderful activities that my blogging friends have posted! I am also glad that I have participated in the Blog Party, instead of just being a 'stalker'! I now have so many great activities to use at home with my son and will keep in my files for the future! Who else is sad that next week is our last chapter?!
This summer I have been doing lots of fun early learning geometry activities with my 2 year old. Read all about in this post. She is quite good at spotting shapes and loves to do her shape puzzles! Today's post will focus on the activities that I am doing with my 5 year old son, since the blog party is for grades K-2!
3D geometric solids Match Up - my son picks one of the plastic 3D shapes and then searches the house to find objects that match them. It's fun to see what items he selects. Our two year old is eager to participate so I leave out some easy items for her to match at the same time! To extend this activity in the future, I will ask my son to draw the objects he finds or maybe trace them to make it a bit easier. I liked the book's idea of taking a digital camera on the shape hunt and photograph objects but I never seem to print the photos...so drawing will likely work better for us!
Building 3D Shapes - this activity never gets boring! For our buildings we have used a wide variety of materials: mini marshmallows & toothpicks, coffee stirrers & clay, straws & pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks & play dough, and newspaper rolled tightly & tape. To build larger structures we use commercial products such as Straws & Connectors, Crazy Forts, and Tinker Toys. One activity that I am planing this week is to have him build cubes with various materials to show that a cube built with toothpicks and one built with Tinker toys has the same number of edges and corners, but it's on a larger scale. (This may also be a nice lead into measurement activities, which is the focus of next week's chapter.)
Look for Shapes in Nature - a couple of weeks ago we went on a "triangle walk" in the woods. It was amazing to see how many naturally occurring triangles we found. We will definitely do this again but look for different shapes!
Find the Hidden Treasure - I loved this idea. I have written directions on index cards for my son to follow to find a hidden treasure chest. I like the idea of practicing positional words and have tried to make the text simple enough that he could read them independently. I also used arrows and simple drawings for added support. After he does my hunts, I will help him in writing the clues and then Daddy can look for the treasure!
Shape Designs - using large foam shapes my son makes elaborate designs. His pieces are always symmetrical so I thought I would introduce that term and have him practice symmetrical drawings. I liked the idea of using pattern blocks and a mirror to draw a symmetrical design.
I think I will also fold a few pieces of paper in half, let him paint one side, and then squish the pages closed to show him symmetry in another medium.
Tangrams - a new favorite activity at our house. I searched online for "free tangram printables" and found lots of choices. My favorites are at http://www.tangrams.ca/ because they are simple to do. I printed the puzzles on one side and the solutions on the reverse. For now we are just using the solution side to rebuild the design and later we can try to solve the puzzles. (I personally find tangrams very challenging, so I like knowing the solution is handy for me!)
Pattern Block Designs - My son has been using his Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks & Board set for several years. This has pre-printed images that he basically just lays the pieces onto. I knew he was ready for more of a challenge and was excited to see the templates DeeDee posted this week. Her templates are smaller than the actual size of the blocks and this will make him think a bit more as he recreates the design on his own. She also posted a response page to record the number of each of the shapes, which I think extends this activity nicely! (Thanks DeeDee...we especially liked making the flag on the 4th of July!) Check out the printables at: http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com/2011/07/math-work-stations-blog-party-chapter-7.html
We also own the Melissa and Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks. These are great for younger children since the blocks fit into place and won't slide around. My two year old is now an expert at these! I enjoy bringing both of these sets out for the kids to use side by side. It's fun when they have similar activities that they can both do independently! When she's ready I found these simple pattern block templates that I can print. My tip is NOT to laminate them because they become slippery and it's frustrating to younger kids. http://prekinders.com/pattern-blocks/
Geoboards - we have just started exploring with these. So far my son just makes creative designs and he loves it. I plan on introducing task cards to guide him in making specific shapes. I will add a link when I find a good one.
Blocks - my son loves to build with our wooden blocks. I can see working some geometry lessons into this by using task cards such as, "Build a tower with 5 rectangles and 3 triangles." "Make a square by using only triangles."
Another idea is to let him create a building and then make a 'blueprint' of it or record how many of each shape was used.
Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to learning lots of new geometry ideas from all my new blogging friends! The host for this week's chapter is:
http://www.pattonspatch.blogspot.com/
This summer I have been doing lots of fun early learning geometry activities with my 2 year old. Read all about in this post. She is quite good at spotting shapes and loves to do her shape puzzles! Today's post will focus on the activities that I am doing with my 5 year old son, since the blog party is for grades K-2!
3D geometric solids Match Up - my son picks one of the plastic 3D shapes and then searches the house to find objects that match them. It's fun to see what items he selects. Our two year old is eager to participate so I leave out some easy items for her to match at the same time! To extend this activity in the future, I will ask my son to draw the objects he finds or maybe trace them to make it a bit easier. I liked the book's idea of taking a digital camera on the shape hunt and photograph objects but I never seem to print the photos...so drawing will likely work better for us!
Building 3D Shapes - this activity never gets boring! For our buildings we have used a wide variety of materials: mini marshmallows & toothpicks, coffee stirrers & clay, straws & pipe cleaners, Popsicle sticks & play dough, and newspaper rolled tightly & tape. To build larger structures we use commercial products such as Straws & Connectors, Crazy Forts, and Tinker Toys. One activity that I am planing this week is to have him build cubes with various materials to show that a cube built with toothpicks and one built with Tinker toys has the same number of edges and corners, but it's on a larger scale. (This may also be a nice lead into measurement activities, which is the focus of next week's chapter.)
Look for Shapes in Nature - a couple of weeks ago we went on a "triangle walk" in the woods. It was amazing to see how many naturally occurring triangles we found. We will definitely do this again but look for different shapes!
Find the Hidden Treasure - I loved this idea. I have written directions on index cards for my son to follow to find a hidden treasure chest. I like the idea of practicing positional words and have tried to make the text simple enough that he could read them independently. I also used arrows and simple drawings for added support. After he does my hunts, I will help him in writing the clues and then Daddy can look for the treasure!
Shape Designs - using large foam shapes my son makes elaborate designs. His pieces are always symmetrical so I thought I would introduce that term and have him practice symmetrical drawings. I liked the idea of using pattern blocks and a mirror to draw a symmetrical design.
I think I will also fold a few pieces of paper in half, let him paint one side, and then squish the pages closed to show him symmetry in another medium.
Tangrams - a new favorite activity at our house. I searched online for "free tangram printables" and found lots of choices. My favorites are at http://www.tangrams.ca/ because they are simple to do. I printed the puzzles on one side and the solutions on the reverse. For now we are just using the solution side to rebuild the design and later we can try to solve the puzzles. (I personally find tangrams very challenging, so I like knowing the solution is handy for me!)
Pattern Block Designs - My son has been using his Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks & Board set for several years. This has pre-printed images that he basically just lays the pieces onto. I knew he was ready for more of a challenge and was excited to see the templates DeeDee posted this week. Her templates are smaller than the actual size of the blocks and this will make him think a bit more as he recreates the design on his own. She also posted a response page to record the number of each of the shapes, which I think extends this activity nicely! (Thanks DeeDee...we especially liked making the flag on the 4th of July!) Check out the printables at: http://www.mrswillskindergarten.com/2011/07/math-work-stations-blog-party-chapter-7.html
We also own the Melissa and Doug Beginner Pattern Blocks. These are great for younger children since the blocks fit into place and won't slide around. My two year old is now an expert at these! I enjoy bringing both of these sets out for the kids to use side by side. It's fun when they have similar activities that they can both do independently! When she's ready I found these simple pattern block templates that I can print. My tip is NOT to laminate them because they become slippery and it's frustrating to younger kids. http://prekinders.com/pattern-blocks/
Geoboards - we have just started exploring with these. So far my son just makes creative designs and he loves it. I plan on introducing task cards to guide him in making specific shapes. I will add a link when I find a good one.
Blocks - my son loves to build with our wooden blocks. I can see working some geometry lessons into this by using task cards such as, "Build a tower with 5 rectangles and 3 triangles." "Make a square by using only triangles."
Another idea is to let him create a building and then make a 'blueprint' of it or record how many of each shape was used.
Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to learning lots of new geometry ideas from all my new blogging friends! The host for this week's chapter is:
http://www.pattonspatch.blogspot.com/
Monday, June 6, 2011
2D Shapes - Tot School
This week we have been exploring 2D shapes! My plan was to introduce shapes to my 2 year old as I reviewed some basic geometry concepts with my 5 year old. The plan worked beautifully, and my son really enjoyed the 'tot school' time and did much more of the 'teaching' than me!
Here is our shelf at the beginning of the week. We have lots of shape activities but I didn't want to overwhelm the little one with too many choices.
Trying to pull a button through a felt shape. We have squares and circles to sort and then put onto the "snake" ribbon. This idea came from one of my favorite blogs, Counting Coconuts! This is more than my daughter can do independently but it's great fine motor practice when we do it together.
We practiced "using basic shapes and spatial reasoning to build things and do puzzles". That sounds pretty fancy huh! These are great foam shapes from a Mother Goose training I went to a couple of years ago. My son asked for a certain shape for her to find. As she went searching for the shape, he continued to build. They worked so well together on the this project and when they were done we decided to keep it set up until Daddy could see it!
"We're going on a shape hunt"...we're going to catch a big one! Several times we went hunting for shapes and then matched the shapes to pictures in a book or to a puzzle. I was amazed at how quickly my daughter picked up the names of the basic shapes! And the way she says triangle is enough to melt your heart!
Even in the crib she was practicing shapes...here trying to match shapes
Here is our shelf at the beginning of the week. We have lots of shape activities but I didn't want to overwhelm the little one with too many choices.
Trying to pull a button through a felt shape. We have squares and circles to sort and then put onto the "snake" ribbon. This idea came from one of my favorite blogs, Counting Coconuts! This is more than my daughter can do independently but it's great fine motor practice when we do it together.
"We're going on a shape hunt"...we're going to catch a big one! Several times we went hunting for shapes and then matched the shapes to pictures in a book or to a puzzle. I was amazed at how quickly my daughter picked up the names of the basic shapes! And the way she says triangle is enough to melt your heart!
Even in the crib she was practicing shapes...here trying to match shapes
Our shape exploration will continue next week. I will get out the 3D geometric solids and we will work on finding objects in the house that match them. We will go on a triangle walk in the woods to see how many naturally occurring triangles we can find. We will sort shapes into groups and continue to build interesting shape pictures with the foam shapes and will make some paper shapes to glue onto card stock. Hmmm....maybe even make our own shape book!
Have any great shape ideas for us? I'd love to hear them!
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