During the summer, our family likes to go light on the homeschooling lessons. So reviewing the Pattern Block Activity Bundle from Crafty Classroom was perfect for us! With over 700 pages, the ebook PDF file has 230+ unique picture designs for your children to use with their set of pattern blocks. Our kids love working on these types of activities. We were impressed that there were three different levels for each design as well as 8 different activity pages that incorporated counting, graphing, tally marks, addition, subtraction, inequalities, writing, shape identification, ordinal number words, number words, and sequencing. The bundle will help you create "no-prep learning centers for the entire year!"
Crafty Classroom offers "top quality teaching resources" that are "low-prep" but provide "hands-on fun" for your homeschooling family or classroom. There are a variety of products for preschoolers through third graders that cover language arts, math, science, geography, and bible studies.
What Do You Receive with the Pattern Block Activity Bundle?
A 731-page PDF eBook with several pages of explanations, the 8 activity pages, printing instructions, and the actual pattern block pages that cover the following topics:
- Capital and lowercase alphabet letters
- Numbers
- Farm Animals
- Forest Animals
- Ocean Animals
- Zoo Animals
- Transportation
- New Year's Day
- Valentine's Day
- St. Patrick's Day
- Earth Day
- Easter
- Fourth of July
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
- Winter
- Spring
- Summer
- Fall
Page three explains the three levels (easy, medium, and hard), how to use the set, and the breakdown of what you get and on what page to find them in your file.
As I mentioned, there are three levels of pattern block pictures. The easy level shows the geometric shapes in color where you need to complete a letter, number, or animal. The colors match the blocks from the set we own.
The medium-level page shows the picture in black and white but the block shapes are still in color at the bottom of the page. As you can see, your child can write down the number of block shapes they needed to complete the picture at the bottom of the page.
Finally, the hard level is just the basic outline of the picture with the shapes in color printed at the bottom. This level caused some difficulty for our children because it does require them to think outside of the box. We also found that we didn't always have to use the blocks as suggested on the easy and medium level pages.
Who is the bundle good for? The bundle is perfect for preschool through first graders. Using the activities sheets, they can have fun while refreshing their math skills. In addition to using them as suggested with the pattern blocks and placed in plastic sleeves, I could also see my kids enjoying coloring the pages using the appropriate block colors. (And to be honest, I enjoyed working on the activity sheets with my kids. It was a bit like solving a puzzle.)
How Did Our Family Use the Bundle?
When the Bundle arrived, it was right before the Fourth of July, so I went to those 23 pages first. I selected several for our children to work on, including those from the medium and hard levels. (I didn't print out any from the easy level as our color printer is not working.) I also went through and printed out the first few uppercase letters and numbers. Our daughter then picked some summer pictures and animal pictures.
On several evenings, after snack but before bedtime, our children worked on the pattern block pages. They started off using the medium-level pages (the hard ones were apparently too hard according to them in the beginning). They worked through the pictures both separately and together using our two sets of pattern blocks.
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| The Fourth of July pictures included this firework along with fire crackers, an eagle, statue of liberty, and stars. |
On several evenings, after snack but before bedtime, our children worked on the pattern block pages. They started off using the medium-level pages (the hard ones were apparently too hard according to them in the beginning). They worked through the pictures both separately and together using our two sets of pattern blocks.
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| One of the animal pictures that our daughter picked. |
We then worked on some of the activity sheets. Some of the activities included new ideas for our son and daughter. I think their favorite activity sheet was the graphing one. I had to print out additional graphing sheets for them to work on during our homeschooling day.
I love how easy it is to use these pattern block activities during the day in our free homeschooling moments. And that my kids can pull them out of the folder themselves and work on them whenever they want to on their own. They don't realize that they are actually working math skills as they complete the pattern sheets. If you put them in plastic sleeves, you could organize them in a binder by category to make it easier to find the exact pages you want for each lesson or activity.
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| One of the activity sheets that requires the student to add the shapes. |
Our son's favorite part? He liked the activity sheet where he drew the cow he built with the blocks as well as the tally sheet he used with the car pattern block sheet.
What about our four-year-old daughter? She really liked doing the graphs as she is just starting to read (and writing is still a bit in the future for her). The graphs let her fill out an activity sheet like her brother at her level. She really liked the Statue of Liberty, sand castle, and the animals we printed out.
I would recommend homeschooling parents, parents of children who attend public or private school, or schools pick up the Pattern Block Activity Bundle (there are different purchase options depending on whether you homeschool or are purchasing for a classroom). They make a perfect math activity for your children to cycle through in their regular classwork. So if you have a bag or box full of the pattern blocks, pick up this bundle for your home or classroom!
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| They look really cool with the transparent pattern blocks. |
Do You Wish to Learn More about Crafty Classroom?
There were other products reviewed by the Homeschool Review Crew. Families reviewed the following:
- R.E.A.D. Curriculum Notebook K
- R.E.A.D. Curriculum Notebook Grade 1
- Interactive Math Curriculum Notebook K
- Alphabet Letter of the Week Curriculum Notebook
- Bible Letter of the Week Curriculum Notebook
- Sight Word of the Week Curriculum Notebook
- Fables & Tales
- USA Activity Bundle Pack
Please visit the reviews to see how other families incorporated these products into their homeschooling day.
Wow! That does look like a really complete and helpful bundle. I loved seeing your children's work. I can tell that you are an excellent teacher!
ReplyDeleteYes - I was amazed at all the options. It is so much fun to go through the pack and pick new pictures. (And thank you - someday are easier than others to teach them - just like in a public school classroom.)
DeleteThat's really cool. I love the colors!
ReplyDeleteYes - I love how they are bright, primary colors. And the see-thru ones are neat.
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