Printable Pattern Block Activities

January 3, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

My post the other day about snowflake math activities included a couple of things using pattern blocks, which are great manipulatives to have on hand for kids to play with in quiet times at home or in the classroom. There are tons of printables you can use to challenge kids to build different things or inspire them to come up with their own creations.

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a great free collection of printable pattern block challenges, which shows what shapes to use and then asks kids to count how many of each shape they used. This is a good general collection that includes things like a giraffe, elephant, bicycle and bus. (Scroll all the way down on the page to find the link to the download.)

The printables from Preschool Mom help kids practice symmetry as they complete the image printed on half of the page. They also have some cute pattern block printables kids can use to make a single design or a repeating pattern.

If you’re looking for more winter themed projects, grab these mats from Ms. Moran’s Kindergarten, which include a hat, mitten, penguin and more.

Life Over C’s has a collection of ocean animal pattern block pages including a fish, octopus, whale and stingray. Each page also includes a place for kids to mark which image of the animal is different, and to mark out which shapes they used to make the animal.

You can find more animal mats in a free sampler from Pocket of Preschool’s Teachers Pay Teachers page. This one focuses on zoo animals and includes things like a gorilla, lion and elephant.

If you want to collect information from any pattern block sheet you might use, grab the download from This Reading Mama. It has pages for kids to chart how many of each kind of piece they use in a project, and to compare the use of different shapes across different mats.

Next Plan Idea:

Snowflake Themed Math Activities

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Learning about Snow

Not all of us live where there is a lot of snow in the winter (or even where it is winter as I write this, but it can still be fun to learn about snow, what it is and why it falls, so let’s get into it!

First, let’s talk snowflake science with The Homeschool Scientist. They have a free prinatble snowflake science less that’s more than 60 pages long and good for multiple grade levels. The blog post linked here includes some fun snow facts, information about how snowflakes form and why they are both six-sided and (probably) all different.

Expressive Monkey has a great post about how snowflakes are formed and why they have six arms, and also shows some of the pictures taken by W. A. Bentley in the 1920s (more on him below).

You can also grab a free snow facts worksheet with space for kids to draw their own unique snowflakes from Education.com. Simple Living Creative Learning also has a paid snow study resource set that includes things like different types of snowflakes, the snow cycle, symmetry drawing with snowflakes, tips for snow safety, snow-related vocabulary and more.

Homeschool Superfreak has another great page for learning about snowflakes, which includes information about Snowflake Bentley, a great book to read (and person to learn about). It includes lesson plan ideas and links to activities.

Speaking of activities, if you happen to have snow around you can make snow ice cream or maple candy, paint on snow or with snow, or do some snow science experiments. If you get a ton of snow you could maybe even build an igloo or snow structure.

If you don’t get snow you can learn about how animals keep warm in the snow and cold temperatures with this experiment from I Can Teach My Child. Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls can help you learn why big paws (or snowshoes) make it easier to walk in the snow. Or make a snowstorm in a jar like this one from MomBrite.

Next Plan Idea:

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