Make Fun Patterns
Create colorful repeating patterns using beads, stickers, or crayons to explore symmetry, sequencing, and counting while designing your own pattern cards.
Step-by-step guide to make fun patterns
Step 1
Gather all the materials and put them on a clean table so you can see everything.
Step 2
Pick one medium to make your first pattern with beads or stickers or crayons.
Step 3
Choose 2 to 4 colors or shapes that you will repeat in your pattern.
Step 4
Decide a repeating rule for your pattern like AB or AAB or ABC and say the rule out loud.
Step 5
Draw a row of 8 to 12 light boxes or circles on an index card with your pencil and ruler to make a guide.
Step 6
Fill the guide boxes following your rule using your chosen medium by placing beads on a pipe cleaner or stickers in the boxes or coloring the boxes.
Step 7
Make two more cards using different pattern rules or different colors so you can compare them.
Step 8
Fold each finished card in half to check if both sides look the same for symmetry.
Step 9
Count how many times the basic pattern unit repeats and write that number on the back of the card.
Step 10
Decorate the edges of each card and write a name for your pattern on the front.
Step 11
Share your finished pattern cards on DIY.org
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we use instead of beads, pipe cleaners, or index cards if we don't have them?
If you don't have beads or pipe cleaners, use buttons threaded on string or pasta on yarn, and if you lack index cards draw the 8–12 guide boxes on printer paper or thin cardboard cut to index-card size to follow the drawing and filling steps.
My guide boxes look uneven or my beads keep slipping off the pipe cleaner—what should I do?
Use your ruler and a light pencil to redraw evenly spaced boxes, fold or twist the pipe cleaner ends and secure them with a small piece of tape so beads don't fall off, and say the repeating rule out loud as you place each item into the guide boxes.
How can we change this activity for younger or older children?
For younger children simplify to 4–6 boxes using stickers or crayons and an AB rule with adult counting help, while older kids can make 10–12 box cards with AAB or ABC rules using beads on pipe cleaners, fold for symmetry, and write the repeat count and a pattern name.
How can we make the finished pattern cards more creative or challenging?
Decorate the edges as instructed, combine media (stickers plus beads), make a stapled mini pattern book of your cards, create folded mirror-symmetric designs to check both sides, and photograph them to share on DIY.org.
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Facts about patterning and early math
🎨 Babies love high-contrast patterns — bold repeating designs are easier for little eyes to spot!
🟡 Beadwork is an ancient craft — people have used beads to make decorative patterns and tell stories for thousands of years.
🌻 Nature makes repeating patterns too — the Fibonacci sequence shows up in sunflower spirals and pinecone arrangements.
🔢 Playing with patterns boosts early math skills — sequencing and repeating help build counting and number sense.
🔁 Symmetry appears everywhere — many animals (and human faces) are bilaterally symmetric, which makes patterns feel balanced.
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