1-2-3 Come Do Some 2D Shape Activities With Me

"Funny Flamingos”  are a quick, easy and super-fun “print & go” craftivity, that will help review 2D shapes in some interesting & engaging ways.

The 2D shapes included are: circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, hexagon, pentagon, octagon, trapezoid, rhombus, star & heart.

The packet includes patterns for the above shapes, so that children can make a “Funny Flamingo Friend.”

They turn out absolutely adorable, so I think your kiddos will really enjoy making one. 

Templates come in a large, full-page size, as well as a smaller, two-on-a-page pattern.

Decide what’s most appropriate for your students.

You don’t have to, but accordion-folding the legs is a fun way to strengthen finger muscles. Your students will also enjoy the “boing-boing” effect.

Completed projects make a super-cute display. Dangle them from the ceiling as a border in your hallway. I’ve included a poster to add pizzazz.

The packet also includes 3 sets of game cards, so that students can play “Memory Match”, “I Have; Who Has?” and sorting games with them.

The 3 sets of cards feature: flamingos with a shapely body, plain shapes, plus word cards, so that you can practice a variety of standards. 

I’ve also included a “Spin to Win” game, where students partner up and take turns spinning.  Whatever shape they land on, they color the matching shape on their game sheet that color.

Several other worksheets, help to further reinforce 2D shapes in other ways.

The “Flamingo Slider” is another quick, easy & fun craft, that will help you whole group assess. 

My students absolutely LOVE playing this "I Spy" game. Simply call out a shape.  Students pull on their "slider" strip 'til it appears in the "window" then hold up their flamingo.  You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.

Two graphing extensions add some additional math pratice to the packet as well.

Use the 3 photo posters of real flamingos to introduce your lesson, as well as the “What Shape is a Flamingo’s Body Most Like?” discussion poster.

Since I'm "warping" the true shape of a flamingo, as a fun way to review shapes, I thought it important to discuss this. The poster provides a nice visual.

I’ve also included a list of super-interesting links that I use as part of my introduction as well, which helps me add a bit of science in just a few minutes.

Students learn why a flamingo is pink and other interesting facts. The 2-minute clip showing 1,000s of flamingos all in one place in Africa, is quite amazing!

Today's featured FREEBIE is also a fun activity that involves 2D shapes.

It's a very versatile, "Letter H is for House" craft that you can do when you're working on a letter a day, shapes (12, 2D shapes are included.) or doing social studies & working on communities, families & neighborhoods.

Children can also practice their address by including that as well.
Add a school photo for that finishing touch. Completed projects make an adorable bulletin board too.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by. 

It's been unseasonably hot this week with scorchers in the 90s, so it's a good day to design some more activities in my air-conditioned office.  Wishing you a  super-de-duper summer.

"Woo Hoo! It's summer! If you're not barefoot, you're over dressed!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do Some Pattern Block Activities With Me.  

Pattern blocks are one of my students’ favorite math manipulatives.  We count, sort, pattern, and do all sorts of interesting things with them.

With that in mind, I wanted to design some additional activities that would help practice a variety of standards while they “played” with them. What started out as a game & booklet, turned into a jumbo "Fun With Pattern Blocks" packet.

If you don’t have a wooden or plastic set of pattern blocks, no worries, I’ve included patterns so that you can make your own paper ones.

Pick and choose your favorites and use them as math centers, whole group activities, games, worksheets, homework, and an easy assessment tool.

They’re great for early finishers and something to tuck in your sub folder as well.

The packet includes:

* Anchor charts, pocket chart cards & posters.

* Four, pattern block shape BOOKLETS, with 4-on-a-page patterns, which make a “just the right size” mini booklet:

1. Shape UP: featuring “color me” kids holding a shape.
2. Pattern Block Fun: featuring “connect the dots” and “finish drawing the shape” pages.
3. Spying Shapes Inside Shapes: discovering, counting, coloring and naming the various shapes and …
4. Maze Craze: featuring mini mazes in the various shapes, such as “You’re hung up in a hexagon! Can you find your way out?”

* A set of “Block Heads”, which I use for flashcards, decorative anchor charts, & the “Four Corners” game. I've included a variety of silly eyeballs to mix & match.  Their "mouth" names the shape.

You can also use as a whole-group craftivity & have students pick their favorite and make one of their own, writing attributes, and why it’s their favorite on the back.

* A "trace, write & color" flip-a-strip booklet, as well as a full-page booklet, which can be used for a center, anchor charts or a class-made book.

* All sorts of GAMES, many of which can be used as quick, easy and super-fun assessments, such as the “I Spy A Pattern Block!” worksheets.

* There are a variety of dice games as well, like our favorite “Rack Up a Stack!”

* Other games include: “Trapped in a Trapezoid”, “Hiding in a Hexagon”, “Trapezoid Towers”, “Rhombus Race”, “Fill it Up”, “Spin to Win”, “Two Trapped Trapezoids”, “Triangle Trees”, and a “Which trapezoid is bigger? challenge.

* The “Memory Match” game cards can also be used for, Sorting, Patterning, “I Have; Who Has?” 1-to-1 correspondence, “Kaboom!” and “What’s Missing?” activities and games.

Students practice greater & less than, color words, alphabetizing, strategy, graphing, tally marks and addition.

* The number strip PUZZLES (1-10 & 11-20), help with number recognition, counting & sequencing.

* And finally, a cute pattern block name craft, which makes a colorful bulletin board display, and provides a simple way to review shapes, colors, letters, capitalization, alphabetizing and patterns.

There are several pattern options, including one with the shapes inside square blocks.  Choose your favorite, or give children a choice. 

Today's featured FREEBIE is a simple craft I call, Pattern Block Pals.

The gloved-hands & tennis shoes on their feet at the end of colorful accordion-folded legs add the "Awww-dorable!" factor.

Completed projects make a super-cute "Getting In Shape" bulletin board display.

Besides my featured FREEBIE you may also be interested in these other FREE pattern block activities: 

Holly and Heather over at Prekinders have over 20 free pattern block picture mats in full color, as well as black and white. 
ABC Teach also has a big variety of pattern block picture mats: toys, animals, flowers, and some really interesting and challenging patterns.

I was really excited to find a complete set of FREE pattern block mats for upper & lowercase letters as well as numbers over at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  Erica also has a nice set of "complete the pattern" cards.

Well that’s it for now.  Thanks for stopping by. 

My mom, who is 91, is visiting for the week, so time to do some sightseeing with her. Wishing you a stress-free day.

 "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -Benjamin Franklin 

1-2-3 Come Do Some Kite-Themed Activities With Me

One of our themes for spring is kites; so I've been busy designing an assortment of kite activities to help teach a variety of standards.

Today's blog features 4 of them, along with the featured FREEBIE.

Practice 3D shapes with the "Shapin' Up With 3D Kites" packet.  The  emergent reader reinforces 3D shapes as well as colors.

The packet includes:

* A 2-on-a-page emergent reader booklet.

* Students read the simple sentences, trace and write the shape and color words, then color the pictures appropriately.

* A set of colorful, 3D shape pocket chart cards, with matching black and white ones, so that students can color, cut, and add the cover, to make an Itty Bitty Booklet.

* I've also included a graphing extension, a “design your own kite” worksheet, plus  40 lovely photographs of real 3D-shaped kites, many of which also feature 2D shapes.

Print, laminate and trim. (There are 4 pictures per page.)  Children choose one or two and write the shapes and colors that they see on their “I Spy!” recording sheet.

For writing practice, have students write a sentence or two about the kite picture. To use as an independent center, have students sort the photographs by shape. The pictures also make a lovely spring bulletin board.

* Since I included color words in the emergent reader, I also included a set of colorful pocket chart cards, as well as a set in black and white, so students can add the cover and make a “Flipping Over Colors!”  Itty Bitty Booklet. (“grey” & “colours” spelling options are also included). 

Next up is an ordinal number "craftivity". It's a quick, easy and fun way for students to review ordinal numbers, ordinal number words + sequencing.

Encourage children to color the stripes on their kite in a pattern, or in rainbow-color order.

I've included ordinal number kite cards to play a Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" game, as well as a set of mini, sequencing cards, which could double as a bookmark for students' math journals. 
There's also a whole-group assessment worksheet, with 2 size options.     

Do your students enjoy playing with pattern blocks? Spring things up with these 2, kite-themed pattern block games.

I've included a full-color pattern, as well as a black & white version, so that little ones look for a shape, rather than a color.

There's also a set of pocket chart cards that show and name the pattern block shapes.

Use them to introduce the lesson, then put the cards in a center, for a "trace, draw, and place the pattern piece" activity.

Students can play "Spin to Win" with the spinner, or practice numbers as well, by rolling a dice, then referring to the poster to see what pattern block they should place on their mat.  Students can play independently or with a partner. 

Finally, practice synonyms with the "Soaring With Synonyms!" packet.  So that you can also do this packet with younger kiddos, I've included a blank kite pattern.
They could list rhyming words, sight words, color words etc. PK students can simply do the craft.

The back of the kite can also be used for a writing prompt, or spring poem. Completed projects look awesome suspended from the ceiling in our hallway.

Studying synonyms and antonyms not only increases vocabulary, but enhances students’ writing; making it more interesting and vivid, as it gives children a better word base to choose from, so their writing is not redundant and boring, filled with over-used words like “said”, “pretty”, “went” etc.

Besides the synonym/antonym kite craftivity, the packet also includes:

48 kite word cards to play Memory Match & "I Have; Who Has?” games, plus a blank set of kite cards to program with whatever...

Black line mini kite worksheet for more synonym/antonym practice, plus a full-color, completed worksheet to use as a sample, along with synonym and antonym “definition” anchor charts plus . . .

An alphabetical, word-list poster of 70 words students can choose from to complete their kite, with background information about synonym/antonym word work, as well as a list of 290 synonym/antonym pairs. 

The FREEBIE today also features kites.  It's a set of alphabet cards.

I've included separate upper and lowercase letter cards, as well as ones displaying both letters. 

There's also a tip list of things you can do with the cards, including playing games like Memory Match, "I Have; Who Has?" and "Kaboom!" 

Well that's it for today. The wind is howling outside and making my office window rattle, the perfect background to work on my wind activities!

Wishing you a fun-filled, easy peasy breezy day. 

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." - Jimmy Dean

1-2-3 Come Make Some Bunny Shapes With Me

As with many of my other activities, the Shapely Bunny packet took many more hours than I thought it would.  It's two days later, and I'm finally done! Woo hoo.

Since the other Shapely Animal packets have been such popular downloads, I decided to add another one for spring.  If you missed the Shapely Slick Chick packet I published earlier this month, click on the link to grab it. 

The Honey Bunny packet follows a similar format. I've included large shapes that students can add details and ears to, to make their shapely bunny, as well as a set with bunny features drawn in.  Make a set, laminate and then use as a sweet spring bulletin board. 

Have children pick out their favorite shape and make one of their own. 

If you want to turn their work into a bulletin board as well, toss the shape cards into a container and have them choose one.  Whatever shape they pick is the Shapely Bunny that they'll create.

I've included a big bunny poster that you can personalize with your name and the caption: "Mr(s) ____________'s class is really shaping up... or "Somebunny" knows their shapes.  Hang this in the center of your bulletin board. 

Use the other poster to make a "What's the secret shape?" game.  Draw a question mark on an index card and tape it to the laminated poster so that it's a "hinged" "flap" door. 

Using a dry erase marker, draw a shape underneath.  Call on children to guess what shape is hiding?

There's also an easy reader booklet that covers quite a few standards.  Students read the simple sentences, underline the capital letters and add end punctuation. 

Children trace and write the shape words, as well as trace and draw the shapes and then draw details on the first shape to make it look like a bunny. 

The last page asks them which Honey Bunny was their favorite.  A graph is provided to record this data.

I've included bunny shape cards in color, along with their matching shape word cards. 

These are perfect for Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games. 

Add the bunny Kaboom cards to your game to make things even more fun.  

There's also a set in black and white, which includes a cover, so that students can make an Itty Bitty Shape Booklet. 

Students can also play a funny bunny spinner game.  Children pick a partner and take turns spinning. 

Whatever shape they land on, they color the matching shape on their funny bunny.  The child who completes their worksheet first is the winner.  

Finally, I've also included a worksheet with spatial directions, one for listing a shape's attributes, plus a match the shape to the shape word. 

When everyone has completed whatever projects you want them to do, pass out the certificate of praise.

Click on the link to view/download the Shapely Bunnies Packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

"I've never been a social bunny.  I thrive on work." -Michelle Ryan

1-2-3 Come Do Some Very Hungry Caterpillar Activities and Crafts With Me

My life seems to be flying by!  Can anyone else out there relate?  I had planned to get these cute little caterpillars done the first week of April, but the past few days filled up with so many other responsibilities, that the caterpillars had to stay in their "chrysalis state" 'til now. 

I hope you can still use them, or as the life of a pack-rat teacher goes, tuck these ideas away for next year.  Since so many people read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I wanted to use Eric Carle's cute litter critter as a spring board to studying a variety of other things. 

I created the caterpillar template and made a list of all sorts of ways I could use it, then set about to design the details.   You can choose which one you want your students to do, or give them a choice.  A friend of mine liked them so much, that she plans to make 3 (a different one each week).

In The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet, students trace and write upper and lowercase letters.  I've also included a set where a bit of the butterfly's life cycle is also included with the letters. 

For example, for the Zz letter, I added:  Zzzzzz sleeping in a chrysalis, and then included a butterfly pattern with the letters all over her wings to be cut and glued on the last section.  

I glued just the thorax portion to the last "body" circle and bent the wings up so that the butterfly looks like she's flying.

Older students could also make a list of a food the caterpillar could eat that begins with that letter.  You may want to read Lois Ehlert's book Eating the Alphabet (Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z) to give students some ideas.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats the Alphabet packet. 

If you'd like to review just the life cycle of a butterfly, you'll want to take a look at The Life Cycle Of The Very Hungry Caterpillar packet.  Students trace and write the words, then color, cut and glue the pictures. 

If you look closely, you'll see that I glued down just the thorax with this butterfly too, so it looks 3 dimensional, like the larger one above.  Click on the link to view/download it. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow, reinforces colors as well as the days of the week.  Before hand, brainstorm what kinds of things the caterpillar could eat that are the various colors.  Write these words on the board to help children with spelling.

Students trace and write the color words and complete the sentence with something the caterpillar ate that was that color.  Adding end punctuation reviews another standard.  

Children then draw and color a picture.  I've included my sample so that you can quickly make one to share with your students. Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats a Rainbow packet.

You may also want to read one of the following books for some great examples of rainbow-colorful food: I Eat A Rainbow, by Bobbie Kalman;  Can You Eat a Rainbow? by Anastasia Suen;  and/or  I Can Eat A Rainbow, by Annabel Karmel.   

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Numbers includes counting from zero to ten, where students trace and write the numbers as well as the number words.  I've  included a butterfly pattern to glue to the last section if you want.

There are also caterpillar "body" circles for skip counting by 2's 3's, 5's, and 10's. 

In all of the packets there are patterns for the caterpillar's head if you want it to be made out of construction paper, as well as a pattern that students can color, like the "Skip count by 10's" caterpillar in the photo.

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Numbers.

Since I have many requests for shape craftivities, particulary 3D shapes, I thought I'd make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes. 

This is the largest packet, as I've included a caterpillar that reviews 2D shapes, as well as the days of the week.  For this caterpillar, students trace and write the shape words, as well as draw the shapes. 

I've included a butterfly pattern with the various shapes sprinkled on the wings, if you'd like to include that on the last "body" section.  For a cool 3D effect, fold the wings up and glue only the thorax portion down.

Another caterpillar, is a cut and glue the 2D shapes on the "body" circles.  Besides the standard 2D shapes, you can also choose to include the hexagon, pentagon, & octagon, and/or the pattern block shapes: rhombus and trapezoid. 

There's also a separate caterpillar that simply eats all of the 3D shapes. As with the above activity, students cut and glue the 3D shapes to the "body" circles.  Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eats Some Shapes.

Finally, rather than make a caterpillar that covered story elements using this pattern, I made a graphic organizer - worksheet, to change things up a bit. 

To save you time, I included a template with the answers, so that you can make a quick sample to share with your students. Click on the link to view/download the graphic organizer for The Very Hungry Caterpillar's story elements. 

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN away.   

 "Everyone is like a [caterpillar].  They start out ugly and awkward, and then morph into beautiful and graceful butterflies that everyone loves." -Drew Barrymore

1-2-3 Come Do Some Pirate Activities With Me

I was excited to see that the Polly Wants A Letter Cracker packet was a very popular download this week. 

I had several teachers that liked Pirate Polly so much, that Karyn from Florida, and Elaina from California, asked if I could make some crackers with numbers on them, so I designed crackers with numbers from 0-130.

"Feeding" Polly is a fun and less tedious way to practice counting that high.  The mini cracker cards, are also the perfect size for for sequencing. 

Make extra sets and have students lie on their tummies and string 20-30 crackers in the appropriate order.

Use them to play a game of  "I Have; Who Has?"  Toss whatever cracker numbers your kiddos need practice on, into a container and have students choose several. 

I've included "Kaboom!" bomb crackers, to make things even more fun + a tip list of what else you can do with these number cards.  

Have students sort the number crackers on the odd and even sorting mat, or make equations with the math symbol crackers, and then solve the addition and subtraction problems, or show greater and less than. 

I've also included a variety of trace and write the number worksheets in the packet, as well as "What's Missing?" skip count worksheets, plus a certificate of praise. 

Click on the link to view/download the Polly Wants A Number Cracker packet.

While I was expanding Polly's appetite for learning, I thought it would be fun to make shape crackers too. 

Brook sent me an e-mail that's she's always looking for more 3D shape activities, so along with 2D shapes, I included  3D shapes, and even threw in the pattern block shapes.

The crackers are still square, but the "cheese" on them is shaped.  Of course "Polly" loves these treats.  So that you can also play a Memory Match game, as well as reinforce vocabulary, I also made crackers with shape words on them.   I hope your little pirates will enjoy "feeding" Polly yummy shapes and word crackers.

As with the other Polly Packets, I've also included some extras.   Students can "get in shape" by playing a variety of "I Spy" a shape worksheet games, as well as several  "Shipshape" porthole dice games. 

Click on the link to view/download the Polly Wants A Shape Cracker packet. 

Finally, I also made a Polly Slider for a bit of hands-on fun. 

This "craftivity" includes "sliders" for upper and lowercase letters, numbers 1-30, counting backwards from 10 to 0 as well as 20 to 0, plus skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's and 10's, and of course a shape slider featuring 2D shapes, pattern block shapes and 3D shapes. 

Run off Polly on white construction paper and have students color her, or run the bird off on green construction paper; students trim and add a black pirate hat (there are two to choose from) as well as a 3D yellow beak. 

Run off whatever "slider" you want your students to practice.  They trace the letters and numbers, or color the shapes, and then insert their strip into the slits, so that the various objects will appear in a "window" as they slide the long piece of paper up and down. 

I pre-cut the slits with an Exacto knife, as this sort of cutting was a bit too difficult for my Y5's to do on their own. Sliders are a quick and easy way to review and whole group assess. 

Call out a shape, letter, or number and have students slide 'til it appears in the window.  When they've found the correct answer, they hold up their parrot.  You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.

Add a bit more pizzazz by attaching a wiggle eye with a glue dot.  Click on the link to view/download the Pirate Polly Slider packet. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  (Create, Teach, Share! )

"Beware of no man more than yourself; we carry our worst enemies within us." -G.K. Chesterton

1-2-3 Come Do Some Fun Pattern Block Activities With Me

Carley, from Idaho, asked me if I had any pattern block activities for her kinders.  She was given 2 huge sets from retiring teachers and wondered what sorts of things she could do with them.  

I only had one activity, a (Monthly Pattern Blocks On A Roll dice game packet) so I thought I'd design a few more.  Three days and a zillion hours of work later, I came up with lots of fun pattern block FREEBIES!

So many, that this post is longer than I wanted, but I think you'll really enjoy some interestingly different pattern block goodies, as you kick back and relax a bit. 

Pattern blocks are a wonderful manipulative for all sorts of activities, and introduce students to a few more geometric shapes, like the rhombus and trapezoid. My Y5's especially enjoyed lying on their tummies and making long lines of various patterns. (ABAB, ABBA, ABC-ABC etc.)

Not that we need anymore "to do" things added to an already overwhelming list, but as long as your kiddos are playing with pattern blocks, they might as well learn the names of them. This is easily done through repetition and simply allowing children to play with them. 

Adding a few posters, so students can see the pattern block pictures through out the day, is an easy reminder of these new shapes.  Click on the link to view/download the Pattern Block Poster. 

I also made a set of Giant Pattern Block blackline templates.  Simply run them off on the appropriate color of construction paper, laminate and trim.  Punch a hole in the top and hang from the ceiling. 

For a center on the floor, make 6 of each piece and have students pattern and make pictures with them.  Suspend a trapezoid, hexagon, rhombus and triangle, in each one of the corners of your room and play 4-Corners at the end of a long day.

Another poster is a pattern block optical illusion.  Do you think the trapezoid on the top is bigger?  Chances are your students will think so, but it really isn't.  Both pieces are the same size.  Print and trim the pieces on a sheet of red construction paper to prove it to them.  Click on the link to grab it.

I've also designed a set of pattern cards for your pocket chart, with a matching blackline booklet your kiddos can make.   

There's also a set of Counting With Pattern Blocks, perfect for your pocket chart as well.  I've included a blackline template so you can make worksheets, or use as a center.

Practice counting, sequencing, making groups, plus numbers and number words, with the Pattern Block Number Booklet.

Make a laminated booklet for your math center and have students use dry erase markers to fill in the information,  or make a booklet for each child and have them work on a page a day. I've included a color + black & white cover if you'd like to do this activity.

Instead of placing real pattern blocks on the pages, they can draw them, glue paper pieces, or paste on stickers. 

If you'd like some pattern block stickers (They do exhist!) you can find them over at purefunsupply.com They come 900 in a package for just $8.68.

If you have access to an Ellison Die Cut machine, they have a template for each pattern block shape.  This is a quick way to make zillions of little pieces for all sorts of activities.  I laminate my construction paper before hand, so my paper pieces last longer.  I also make a bunch that are not laminated, so students can glue them to the above booklet, or on sentence strips to make various pattern combinations.  

If you don't have access to an Ellison, I also found a blackline pattern block PDF on Pinterest.   I don't like to directly link to a PDF, and would prefer to send you to that person's site, but there are no identifying credits printed on it. You could have a room helper cut them out for you and sort them into Baggies.

Want to play some games with pattern blocks? Click on the link for a variety of spinner and dice games using pattern blocks. 

I also made Rack Up A Stack. Students roll the dice to see which pattern block they need to stack on their mat. 

A second roll, tells them how many of that pattern block they need to stack. Stacks can get pretty high if they keep rolling the same number. 

If their stack falls, children put only the spilled pieces back in the pile.  Because my Y5's tended to be pretty clutzy, you may want to make a rule that children only have to put one or two spilled pieces back, and only those from the column that they are working on, just in case another stack tumbles because they accidently bumped it.

The child with the most pieces stacked in one pattern block column can be the winner, or the one with the most stacks, or the one with the most total number of pattern blocks stacked. 

To practice addition, give students the point value card, so they can add up the points in each stack, as well as a grand total.  I've made the easier-to-stack pieces worth only 1 point, for easy counting, as well as higher point values for pattern blocks that are more difficult to stack.  I've purposely given these values of 2, 3 and 5 points, so that students can practice their skip counting skills. 

There's a recording sheet for them to show their work.   Click on the link to grab it. Rack Up A Stack: Pattern Block game.

Another game-like challenge, is to have students use the pattern blocks to see how many ways they can make a hexagon.  I chose this shape because it's a standard for many, and often a "toughie" shape to remember for lots of kiddos.  Click on the link for the Hexagon Challenge With Pattern Blocks packet.

As with anything we studied, I liked to throw in some hands-on "craftivity" as another way to immerse my kiddos in whatever concept we were working on. 

With that in mind, I made Pattern Block Pals.  (Blockheads!) I think they turned out pretty cute and hope you like them too. 

There are blank pattern block "head" templates, so your students can draw on their own faces, ones with a traceable word on them, plus ones with sweet faces. 

They look great as a boarder, bulletin board, or suspended from the ceiling against a hallway wall.  As a writing extension, have students list things on the back of their blockhead that also have that shape.  For example, on the back of a rhombus students could list kites, jewelry etc.

A caption for your display could be: "Mrs. Henderson's Kinders Are Really Shaping Up."  or "So Many Patterns, So Little Time." or "Pupil Pattern Blockheads With Personality". Click on the link to view/download the Pattern Block Pals packet.

Pattern blocks are not just for younger children either.  They are a wonderful way to explain fractions to students as well.  While doing research, I found quite a few great YouTube videos, demonstrating fractions using pattern blocks.  Click on the link to take a look.

I always do a bit of surfing to find out what's out there; (no sense in reinventing the wheel) I found some excellent pattern block resources and all of them are FREEBIES! Holly and Heather over at prekinders have over 20 free pattern block picture mats in full color, as well as black and white. 

I especially like using a black and white template, because it not only saves on printer ink, but forces students to search for the shape and not just rely on finding the correct color.   Note that they've included a caterpillar and butterfly in their packet; perfect for an independent center, if you're studying that life cycle.

ABC Teach also has a big variety of pattern block picture mats: toys, animals, flowers, and some really interesting and challenging patterns like the one pictured. 

I was really excited to find a complete set of FREE pattern block mats for upper & lowercase letters as well as numbers 1-10 over at Make Learning Fun.  They too offer full color or black and white.  Each link will take you to their respective sets. 

If you don't have a set of colorful "real" pattern blocks (besides wooden, they now come in plastic and foam, as well as magnets) and would like to do some cut and paste activities with paper pattern block pieces,  Make Learning Fun also has a separate, full-page template of trapezoids, rhombuses, triangles, hexagons and squares. 

Click the black and white template of your choice, and simply run off on the appropriate color of construction paper. The link for their  "Printable paper pattern blocks" appears after both the letter and number pattern block options.  

If you're looking for some "complete the pattern cards", Erica, over at Confessions Of A Homeschooler, made a nice set of pattern block mats.

Lory's 2nd Grade Page, also has some color as well as blackline "complete the pattern cards" + a really cute shape monster muncher game.

Erica also made a set of pattern block alphabet letters in color, as well as pattern block numbers 1-20 

Unlike Make Learning Fun, you don't have to click on each individual letter, but just one download for each complete set.  Because they are different from Make Learning Fun's sets, I have both, to add more variety to my centers.

She just completed a black and white set of pattern block letters as well.  Click on that link if you want the blackline version.

Finally, if you do a solar system or space theme, you'll want to take a look at Learning Resources' 32-page  FREEBIE, filled with pattern block skill-building activities and games.

Whew!  That's a lot of fun with pattern blocks.  Thanks for visiting today.  As always, feel free to PIN away. 

 “It is a happy talent to know how to play.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson