Big and Small Size Patterns for Kindergarten

A size pattern is a sequence of shapes or objects that repeats based on how big or small each one is. Instead of looking at color or shape, a size pattern asks a child to focus on just one thing: is this object bigger or smaller than the one before it? Many kindergarten pattern activities, including big and small worksheets, start here because comparing sizes is one of the very first ways young learners begin to notice order and repetition in the world around them.

In a size pattern, the shapes themselves might all be the same, like circles or squares, but their sizes change in a predictable way. The simplest size patterns alternate between two sizes, like big, small, big, small. More advanced size patterns use three or more sizes, or even grow larger and larger with each step.

Before a child can find a size pattern, they need to be comfortable comparing two objects and telling which one is big and which one is small. This is the foundation skill behind most big and small activity sheets. Once a child can confidently sort objects into "big" and "small," they are ready to look at a whole line of shapes and describe how the sizes change from one to the next.

Look at the row of circles below. Each circle is either big or small, and they follow a repeating rule.

To find the missing shape, a child compares each circle to the one before it. Big, then small, then big, then small again, that is the repeating part of the pattern, called the pattern core. Since the core is "big, small," the next shape must be big to keep the pattern going.

Every size pattern has a smallest repeating chunk, called the core. For the pattern big, small, big, small, big, small, the core is just "big, small." Once a child can name the core out loud, they can use it to fill in any missing piece, no matter how long the pattern gets. This same idea of finding the core and using it to fill in a gap is the main skill covered on the complete a pattern page, so it is worth practicing there once size patterns feel comfortable.

Some size patterns use three sizes in their core, like big, medium, small, big, medium, small. These are a little trickier because a child has to keep three sizes in mind instead of two, but the strategy is the same: find the shortest chunk that keeps repeating, and use it to predict what comes next.

Size is just one of several ways a pattern can repeat. A pattern might instead repeat by color, like red, blue, red, blue, which is covered on the color patterns page, or by the type of shape used, like circle, square, circle, square, which is covered on the shape patterns page. Sometimes a pattern combines more than one attribute at once, such as a big red circle followed by a small blue circle. Learning to tell size, color, and shape apart helps a child describe exactly what is changing in any pattern they see.

Not every size pattern alternates back and forth. Some size patterns keep getting bigger with every step, like a small circle, then a medium circle, then a large circle, then an even larger one. These are called growing patterns, and they use a different kind of thinking because there is no small repeating core to fall back on. Instead, a child watches how much bigger each shape gets compared to the one before it. This idea is explored in more depth on the growing patterns page.

When working through big and small preschool worksheets or activity sheets, encourage a child to point at each shape and say its size out loud: "big, small, big, small." Saying the pattern out loud makes it much easier to notice when the pattern breaks or repeats. It also helps to cover up the last shape in a row and ask, "What size comes next?" before revealing the answer.

Building comfort with size patterns gives children a strong base for every other kind of pattern they will meet in kindergarten math, since the same skill of finding a repeating core and predicting what comes next applies no matter what attribute is changing.

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• Kindergarten