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.

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Printable Letter Books for Preschoolers

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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