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'Domino Patterns' printed from http://nrich.maths.org/
Why do this problem?
This activity encourages children to explore the structure of a set of dominoes in their own way and to think about ways of constructing different patterns. Young children may well respond to the colours of the dots - if you want them to focus on number you might choose to print off a black and white version from this print out
This activity is ideal for a child playing alone or in a pair. Try to resist the temptation to give too much guidance - offer the dominoes and ask the children what they can find out about them. Can they make a pattern from some of them/all of them? Look and listen for responses where children are matching and sorting, and talking about their decisions.
- What do you notice about the dominoes?
- Tell me about your pattern.
- Why have you arranged them like that?
- Which one would go next/on top/by the side of this one?
- Are there any more that would go in that line?
Domino Number Patterns
and Domino Sorting
extend the ideas of pattern. To children who are very confident you might like to offer Domino Sets
and Domino Sequences
offer ideas about possible patterns.