Colour Pattern Tower
What you need
- building blocks in two or three colours
How to do it
- Pick out blocks in two colours, red and blue, and build a short tower: red, blue, red, blue.
- Say the pattern out loud together, pointing at each block, and ask what comes next.
- Let your child carry on the tower, saying the colours as each block goes on.
- While they look away, build one with a mistake in it, red, red, blue, and see if they can find it and put it right.
Why it matters
Red, blue, red, blue said out loud is a rhythm as much as a pattern, and a sneaky mistake in your tower gives them something to put right.
What they're learning
- Colour words
- Red, blue, red, blue, said with every block.
- Seeing a pattern
- Knowing what comes next before it goes on.
- Finding a mistake
- Spotting the block that breaks the pattern and swapping it.
What to look for
Notice them saying the next colour before they pick up the block.
A tip
Keep the tower short, six or eight blocks, so it stays up long enough to check.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: lay the pattern flat on the floor in a line instead of a tower
Harder: use three colours, red, blue and yellow, and let them make a pattern for you to copy
