Spotting patterns is one of the most useful skills in coding. Once you see what repeats, you can write it once and loop it. Year 2 coders tackle longer patterns and find the part that repeats.
What your child will learn
- Continue patterns with three or four parts
- Find missing items in a pattern
- Identify the repeating unit of a pattern
- Connect repeating units to loops
From patterns to loops
A pattern like 🔴 🔴 🔵 🔵 🔴 🔴 🔵 🔵 is the unit 🔴 🔴 🔵 🔵 repeated. In a program, that becomes “repeat 2: red, red, blue, blue”. Finding the unit is exactly how coders shorten their code.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Which picture is missing from the pattern?
- ?
- ⭐
- ☁️
- 🌙
- ☀️
Show answer
Answer: ⭐. The pattern repeats ⭐ ☁️ ☀️, so the missing picture is ⭐.
2. Which picture is missing from the pattern?
- ?
- 🐵
- 🐰
- 🐶
Show answer
Answer: 🐰. The pattern repeats 🐵 🐰 🐰, so the missing picture is 🐰.
3. Which picture is missing from the pattern?
- ?
- 🟣
- 🟡
- 🔴
Show answer
Answer: 🟡. The pattern repeats 🟣 🟡 🟡, so the missing picture is 🟡.
Tips for grown-ups
- Make bead or Lego patterns and ask, “What’s the part that repeats?”
- Clap rhythms and repeat them.