Since we had out both the paints and the bubble wrap, we did some more painting and using different colors created bubble wrap math patterns.
Using 2 scrap blocks of wood about the size of Duplo blocks, I covered these with bubble wrap and stuck a push pin in to hold it together. Little Sister chose her two favorite colors, red and blue. The reason she did is because red and blue mix together to make purple which is the almost the only color she will wear currently. That could all change, but for the moment, purple scores. Dipping one block in red, and then another in blue, she created a simple pattern.
Information can quickly cause overload on our brain circuits, so the brain uses the strategy of patterning to deal with it. In his article, How Learning Patterns Lead to Brighter Children, Matt Powers says, “Out of all mental skills, pattern recognition is said to have the highest correlation to intelligence.” This is understandable because being able to find and make patterns helps to make sense out of information and to use it.
Younger children will start with simple patterns, like red/blue, red/blue. As they figure out how how to use this repetition, they will make more complex patterns, such as red/blue/green, red/blue/green. Homes have patterns in tiles. Clothes have repitition in colors and shapes> Nature has extraordinary ones in trees, leaves, coloration, water, rocks, and more.
After doing a few red/blue, red/blue bubble wrap math patterns with the blocks, Little Sister couldn’t resist any more. Using the reason that her finger needed to tell her what color to use next, she dipped one finger into the paint and made a dot on the paper. Of course, that wasn’t quite enough so 3 fingers made the next dot. The rest of her hand must have been feeling left out, so instead of bubbles, there is a blue hand print. Although she dipped it in red for the pattern, it came out purple. Surprise, surprise.
This bubble wrap math patterns activity is definitely hands on, would you agree?