Getting better at mental maths by using pattern

At school your child is working hard at thinking and talking about maths. One of the best ways to get better at mental maths is by understanding what pattern means and how to look for it in numbers. Exploring how numbers work and the patterns they make helps children to become confident in their use of mental maths. This guide explains what pattern is and provides ideas for finding patterns at home which will help your child to get better at mental maths.  

What is pattern?

• Pattern is what is found in anything that has repetition in it. It can be found in almost every area of our lives.
• We see patterns in colours, shapes and sizes in pictures, materials and buildings.
• We hear patterns in the rhymes and rhythms of songs and poems, eg. ‘One, two, buckle my shoe, Three, four knock at the door…’
• We feel and experience patterns in our lives as the days of the week, months of the year and the seasons come round again.

Patterns in numbers are no different. What we mean when we talk about pattern in numbers is that there is some kind of repetition that you can spot. For example, the pattern of the numbers in this list – 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 – is that they are going up by 2.

Why is pattern important?

There are patterns everywhere. It is important to find, use and talk about patterns with your child, because this will help her to find patterns in numbers. This, in turn, will help her to develop her mental maths skills and enjoy maths.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Using patterns in ‘real life’

Green fingers

When planting seeds in your garden or window box, plant in rows, count the seeds, measure the spaces and calculate the total length of each row. Use these rows as a chance to brush up on your child’s times tables. There are six rows with nine seeds in each, how many seeds have we planted? Talk about the patterns you are making – the ones that you can see, but also the ones that are to do with numbers.

In the Autumn, plan ahead for a patterned display of springtime flowers. Design a pattern on grid paper with your child. Transfer it to your planting area using a grid of string on the earth as a guide. Plant the bulbs, then put your feet up for the winter and enjoy the result in the New Year! Again, talk about the patterns you can see and the patterns in the numbers you are using.

On a journey

Give your child a map to read. With a little help older children can find where they are using grid references and can estimate journey times and distances. For example, try asking a question such as ‘If we’ve got to drive 240 miles and I’m driving at 60 miles an hour, how many hours will it take me to get there?’ Ask your child whether she can think of a pattern that could be used with the numbers 60 and 240, using what she already knows about numbers, to help work this out.

(If you have the chance to visit a maze, spending time in it is a must! Exploring a maze is an exploration of pattern.)

Playing games

Traditional board games provide opportunities to develop an understanding of pattern, number and strategy. Games as simple as noughts and crosses or draughts are full of pattern.

Making shopping fun

Play ‘Supermarket Bingo’. You ideally need two or more children to play this game. Give each child a bingo card with ten numbers on and a pen. As you look round the aisles the children tick off the numbers they see on prices or quantities and the winner is the first to find all their numbers. This is a game for younger children, to make them aware of numbers around them. For older children it can be linked more obviously to number patterns, for example, by looking for all the numbers in the seven times table up to seventy.

Older children can use the shelf stacking system in a supermarket to calculate the number of tins in a display. How many in a row? How many rows on a tray? How many trays in the display? How many tins altogether? The prize for a difficult calculation could be a bar of chocolate – but only if they can calculate the number of squares in the bar without opening it! Keep talking about using the patterns that your child can see and make a link to the patterns in the numbers.

Out and about

There are shape patterns and number patterns all around you. When walking with your child, look out for them. For example

• house numbers – odds and evens, two-digit and three-digit numbers.
• traffic light sequences
• patterned paving
• petals on flowers, the markings on leaves, the patterns on shells, etc.

Talk about these patterns and count them.

Decorating

Most children who learn about the Romans at school love the mosaic designs, where patterns and pictures are made up from tiny coloured squares. If you want some bright decorations for a dull wall, suggest that your child uses squared paper to create her own mosaic designs. If you are going to be doing some tiling, or using stencils, talk to your child about patterns you could make using her understanding of mosaics. Design the pattern together on paper, choose the tiles or stencils and arrange the layout. Older children can help calculate how many tiles will be needed and how much the project will cost, using their knowledge of times tables and pattern.

Patterns are all around us, in numbers and every part of our lives. Helping your child to spot these patterns will help her develop the mental skills that are so important to the maths she is doing in school.

Make it FUN!