Mathematics K–6 · Kindergarten
What comes next: repeating patterns with beads and pegs
Number and algebra
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The idea
A repeating pattern is built from one unit that repeats, so knowing the unit tells you what comes next and what is missing.
Safety card
Hazards
- beads are a choking hazard
Controls
- use only beads too big to fit wholly inside a small-parts test cylinder (31 mm across and 57 mm long), the ACCC test for choking hazards, and supervise
Note
No chemicals or heat are used, so the NSW Department of Education Chemical Safety in Schools package is not needed; ordinary classroom supervision under the school's usual risk management.
What you need
- 30 round threading beads at least 35 mm across in three colours (10 of each) and a shoelace
- 20 wooden clothes pegs in two colours
- a strip of card 40 cm long
- a small cloth to cover one bead
How to do it
- The adult threads a red, blue, red, blue pattern of 8 beads. The child says the colours aloud, then adds the next 4 beads.
- The child makes a pattern with a unit of three (for example red, red, blue) and clips 12 pegs on the card in the same pattern.
- Cover one bead with the cloth. The partner says which colour is hidden and explains how they know. Do this five times in different places.
- Find the unit: clap the pattern (clap, clap, tap) and mark where the unit starts again with a peg of another colour.
- Make the same pattern with different objects (blue beads become blue pegs) and check that both patterns say the same words.
What you should see
The child continues red, blue correctly and, after step 4, points to the unit rather than reading the beads one by one. A hidden bead is named correctly every time once the unit is known: in a red, red, blue pattern the 11th bead is red, because 9 beads make three full units and the 11th is the second bead of the next unit, and the 12th bead is blue. Pegs and beads built from the same unit read the same when said aloud.
What changes
This activity lists no variables to change, measure and keep the same.
Common misconceptions
Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.
- A pattern is any row of coloured things, even with no repeat.
- You can only work out the next bead, not one hidden in the middle.
Curriculum references
The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.
Sources
The pages the author read to write this activity.
- curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/mathematics/mathematics-k-10-2022/outcomes
- vocabulary.curriculum.edu.au/MRAC/2024/04/LA/MAT/8d405215-dcde-448e-a952-3c7fbfd4cf0d
- resolve.edu.au/v84-sequences/patterns-attribute-trains
- resolve.edu.au/v84-sequences/patterns-circle
- www.productsafety.gov.au/product-safety-laws/safety-standards-bans/mandatory-standards/toys-for-children-up-to-and-including-36-months-of-age