Number Patterns and Sequences

What is a pattern?

A pattern is something that happens in the same way again and again.

Look at this: 🔴🔵🔴🔵🔴🔵

Red, blue, red, blue. It keeps going the same way! That is a pattern.

Number patterns

Numbers can make patterns too. Look at these:

2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Each number jumps up by 2. This is called counting in twos.

We can count in twos with shoes! Each person has 2 shoes.

• 1 person → 2 shoes
• 2 people → 4 shoes
• 3 people → 6 shoes

Counting in tens

We can jump by 10 too:

10, 20, 30, 40, 50

Each number adds 10. Try counting in tens with your hands. Every hand has 10 fingers and toes to count!

What comes next?

To find the next number, look at how big the jump is.

Pattern	The jump	Next number
5, 10, 15, 20	+5	25
3, 6, 9, 12	+3	15
2, 4, 6, 8	+2	10

See how the jump stays the same each time? That makes it easy to know what comes next.

Try it at home

• Lay out toys in a pattern: car, ball, car, ball. What comes next?
• Count the days in twos.
• Hop and count by twos: 2, 4, 6, 8!

Great job!

You can find patterns now. This helps you with bigger math later.

When you are ready, practice counting in Counting to 20, or learn about adding in Addition and Subtraction Made Easy.