Patterns and Textures

What Is a Pattern?#

Have you ever seen stripes on a shirt? Or spots on a dog? Or the tiles on a floor? Those are all patterns!

A pattern is when something repeats in a regular order. Something happens, then it happens again, then again, in the same way each time.

Simple Patterns#

The simplest kind of pattern is called an AB pattern. That means two things take turns over and over:

• Red, Blue, Red, Blue, Red, Blue...
• Circle, Square, Circle, Square, Circle, Square...
• Clap, Stomp, Clap, Stomp, Clap, Stomp...

You can see the rule right away: two things keep switching places!

More Complex Patterns#

Once you know AB patterns, you can try harder ones:

ABB pattern: Circle, Square, Square, Circle, Square, Square...

ABC pattern: Red, Blue, Yellow, Red, Blue, Yellow...

AABB pattern: Circle, Circle, Square, Square, Circle, Circle, Square, Square...

Where Do We See Patterns?#

Patterns are everywhere in our world!

• On clothes: stripes, dots, plaids, and floral prints
• On floors and walls: tiles, bricks, and wallpaper
• In nature: zebra stripes, leopard spots, honeycomb, snake skin
• In buildings: rows of windows, fence posts, columns
• In music: beats that repeat (we will learn about this in music class too!)

Making Your Own Patterns#

You can create patterns with:

• Stamps — dipping an object in paint and stamping it on paper
• Crayons — drawing shapes over and over in order
• Stickers — placing stickers in a repeating line
• Collage materials — gluing cut shapes in a pattern

Patterns in Art#

Many famous artists loved using patterns. You might see a painting or quilt that has the same design repeated all over. It looks very organized and beautiful.

When you create a pattern, you are showing that you understand order and repetition. That is a very important skill in math AND in art!

Now you know what patterns are. Can you think of a pattern to create today?