Today in Wonderworks Storytime, we learned about patterns: action patterns, visual patterns, and musical patterns. After our opening Energy song, we started off by going through a pattern obstacle course that I had created around the perimeter of the activity center using painter’s tape.
Each shape denoted a different action that the children were to follow and the shapes repeated as they circled around the room, creating a pattern. The pattern went as follows: hopping, spinning, spinning, hopping, squatting, squatting, hopping, spinning, spinning, hopping, squatting, squatting, hopping, etc. After the children each went through the pattern obstacle course twice, they took a seat on the floor in front of the storytime chair, and we talked about the action pattern we had just created.
Then, we read the book Pattern Fish, by Trudy Harris and illustrated by Anne Canevari Green. This is a great book that describes fish related patterns of varying difficulty (starting out easy and growing more difficult as the book goes on). The pattern is begun and then the children have to finish it on the following page. For example, yellow, black, yellow, black, yellow, black, yellow, (turn page), black. That is an example of the first, and easiest, pattern. The patterns grow longer and more interesting as the book nears its finale.
When we finished Pattern Fish, we talked about how not only are there visual patterns and action patterns, but also musical patterns. We talked about rhythm and beats and practiced making patterns with knee slapping and clapping. Then, we did Jim Gill’s song, “Toe Leg Knee,” from his album, Jim Gill Sings Do Re Mi on His Toe Leg Knee. After that we talked more about patterns in music and how music has refrains which creates patterns, and we did Laurie Berkner’s song, “The Goldfish,” from her album Victor Vito.
We then read the story Hop Jump, by Ellen Stoll Walsh. This book is about a frog who notices that all the other frogs do nothing but follow the same pattern of “hop, jump, hop, jump” every day. This frog, named 
Betsy, decides she wants to dance, as well as hop and jump. In the end, the frogs decide that there is room to make up your patterns.
After our final story, the children got to go through the pattern obstacle course two more times. Then, the children had a chance to make their own patterns. With long strips of poster board and clip art patterns, they got to decide whether or not they would stomp, clap, squat, and/or jump, how often, and in what order. After they created their patterns, the children then took turns showing them off.
We had a wonderful time learning about some of the many different kinds of patterns today. If you have any questions, or would like the power point for the pattern activity, feel free to contact me or Robin. Happy storytimes!
Cultivate Wonder 