If you don’t have any pattern blocks in your center just yet, the children can play with them virtually using this website. It is fairly simple to use; just click on the shape you want and drop it on the paper. Once there, children can drag the shapes around to make geometric designs.
Some of these “click and drop sites” are great for children as they develop their hand-eye coordination, their fine-motor skills, and their visual perception skills. Computer games should never take the place of actual playing with manipulatives, but they are a great enhancement to a play-based program.
Even if you don’t believe in computers in the classroom (I don’t- more on that later) they are here to stay. Children will need to develop computer/navigation skills and mouse agility at some point and I would rather that children learn them on developmentally appropriate websites, than with some of the other stuff that is out there.