Easter Pattern Activities for Preschoolers

Affiliate Disclosure: “This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using those links.”

One of the math skills that are very important for preschoolers to develop is recognizing and completing patterns. Patterns are everywhere. You can find them in words, in music, in routines, in mathematical operations, and even in nature.

Importance of Patterns

Learning patterns will give preschoolers the foundation to be able to make connections, predict what is going to happen, and set the base to understand numbers and mathematical operations in the future.

There are different stages in a child’s patterning development. It doesn’t matter how hard you try a child will not be able to move from recognizing a pattern to creating one. He or she has to move from one stage of development to the next. The normal patterning development in a child is as follows:

Stage 1: The child will recognize a pattern
Stage 2: The child will describe a pattern
Stage 3: The child will be able to copy a pattern
Stage 4: The child will be able to continue a pattern and extend it.
Stage 5: The child will be able to create his/her pattern.

To help your children develop all the stages they need for a good Math foundation, you need to provide opportunities to allow your preschoolers to do all kinds of patterns every day. Creating a pattern could be as simple as clapping to a rhythm, making movements, or using objects in different colors, shapes, and sizes.

Easter Pattern Activities

I have designed three different pattern activities for you and your preschoolers. These activities include completing patterns, copying patterns, and creating patterns. The combination of all of them will cover the different developmental stages that your children might have, and they will also help you in your lesson planning to provide this important activity to your kiddos during Easter week (or month). They are all free, and you can download them by just clicking on the bottom provided for each of them.

Materials you will need:

Easter Complete the Pattern Activity

Preparing for this activity is extremely easy. You will only need to print out each page and give one to each child. Instruct them to cut out the squares at the bottom of each page, and paste them in the appropriate spot to complete the patterns.

You can also separate the strips (I will suggest including the blank square at the end of each strip), and the small squares at the bottom with the pictures. After that, you can put the strips and small squares in a little basket or a Zip-lock bag, and give them to the children to match. This second option is a little more difficult; therefore, take into consideration the developmental stages of each of your children.

This activity can be used as a small group activity, Math center option, take-home game, and Quiet area option.

If you want to use these strips multiple times, I suggest printing them out and laminating them. Cut the squares and keep the rest of the page intact, to allow the children to complete the patterns using the cut-out squares.

Easter Copy the Pattern Activity

To do this activity you just have to print out each page in cardstock, cut out the strips and the objects, and laminate them.

These pattern strips can also be used as a small group activity, Math center options, take-home game, and Quiet area option.

Print as many copies of the pages as you need. Instruct the children to use the cut-out objects to copy the patterns in each strip.

To extend the activity you can have the children use other manipulatives in the same colors of the objects to match them or have them use plastic eggs to copy the patterns.

Easter Create Patterns Activity

This activity is really pretty, fun, and easy to put together. You just have to print out the pattern mats and the egg pages in cardstock and laminate them.

Like the other two activities, these pattern mats can also be used as a small group activity, Math center option, take-home game, and Quiet area option.

Let each child select the pattern mat he or she wants to use. Instruct the child to use the cut-out eggs to create patterns on top of the mat.

To extend the activity you can have the children use other manipulatives such as mini bears, pom poms, buttons, etc. to create patterns on top of the pattern mats.

Books About Patterns

As usual, no matter what I do, I always use books to introduce the theme and support what I’m trying to teach. These are some of my favorite books about patterns for preschoolers. You can find them at your local library, used book store, and on Amazon. If you want to purchase some of them, just click on the titles and my affiliate links will bring you directly to the page.

Pattern Fish (Math is Fun) by Trudy Harris. This book talks about how patterns are found in math, reading, science, music, art, dance, and poetry–and the world all around us.

Pattern Bugs (Math is Fun) by Trudy Harris. Children will love the humor and predictability of this story, and teachers and parents alike will appreciate the pattern hunt that will send kids back into the book looking for more patterns again and again.

Lots and Lots of Zebra Stripes by Stephen R. Swinburne. With simple text and vivid full-color photographs, this book shows children a wide range of nature’s exquisite designs. He invites children to open their eyes and look for patterns in water and on land, in the air and on the ground, and in their neighborhoods. They will see the world as they’ve never seen it before.

A-B-A-B-A―a Book of Pattern Play (Math Is CATegorical ®) by Brian P. Cleary. In this playful look at patterns, the author provides many examples of repeating sequences of shapes, colors, and objects, and how patterns can be found all around us. Peppy rhymes, goofy illustrations, and kid-friendly examples make pattern practice fun!

Pin It for Later

If you don’t have time to read the post and download the printable but want to save it for later, pin this to your literacy or Easter board on Pinterest, and it will be available when you need it.

I hope you find these activities and printables will help you have a successful Easter month of learning and entertainment in your preschool classroom, and since St. Patrick’s Day is coming up soon, please check the FREE St. Patrick’s Day activities I also created with you in mind, at the end of this post.

Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.

Love,