My kids love playing with pattern blocks, so when I was given the opportunity to review the Pattern Block Activity Bundle from Crafty Classroom, I was so excited!
I even ordered another 500 pattern blocks to celebrate. That way more of my kids could play together and there would be enough pattern blocks for everyone.
What Is the Pattern Block Activity Bundle?
A PDF downloadable file, the Pattern Block Activity Bundle contains over 700 pages of pattern block fun. There are hundreds of play mats you can print. You can let your kids select a few, and then print out just what you need. Or, you can print out several different options and let them choose each time they sit down with their pattern blocks to start.
The company recommends putting these in a binder, with each page inside of a sheet protector so it can be used over and over again. We didn’t do that, but I may consider it in the future to reduce printing costs.
There are three levels of difficulty in this bundle. The easiest level has the colors of pattern blocks showing, and you can see exactly where each block goes. At this stage, students simply have to cover the image with the corresponding block.
As the levels increase, the prompts get faded out. The second level has the outline of each individual shape, but does not have the colors showing. Students are asked to plan their build and see how many of each shape they will need.
In the final level, students just have an outline of the entire shape, so they get to figure out which pieces they need and where each one goes.
There are so many different shapes for students to create with pattern blocks. There are numbers, letters, images, and more.
How Did We Use the Pattern Block Activity Bundle?
This was the perfect addition to our simple summertime homeschool routine. I printed out several different pages, ensuring I had some from each level.
Then, I let my kids go play with the pattern blocks. They had so much fun trying the different levels out. Here’s one of my kids trying a level 2 sheet.
I kept a file folder with some printable worksheets in them next to the pattern blocks. Then my kids used them during free time. They were a hit with nearly everyone in the house. Even my husband had fun building with them!
About once a week, I printed off a new batch of ideas for them to try. That way there were always plenty of options.
There are also pages that enhance learning. Some have writing prompts, where students can write about what they built and draw a picture of it. Some are math focused, asking students to count how many of each type of block they used.
There is so much variety! It’s an impressive bundle.
What Did We Think of this Product?
Everyone who tried the worksheets from the Pattern Block Activity Bundle enjoyed them. Here are some of the thoughts part of my family had about this product:
My nine-year-old daughter: “I really like the level 2 where it has the outline of each shape. It’s simple and you can relax a little while you build.”
My ten-year-old son: “The hard level ones were the best. I liked trying to figure out where each shape went.”
My seven-year-old daughter: “I liked drawing what I built.”
My five-year-old son: “Pattern blocks are so fun because you can build anything you liked with them. I liked building the van and the rocket ship and the letters in my name and…”
My four-year-old daughter: “I want to play with more pattern blocks! Can I pick the kind you print?”
I do wish there was a better way to deal with the colored pages when you don’t have a color printer. All of ours just printed grey, so my kids didn’t get the benefit of matching both color and shape. But, they were still able to complete the sheets by looking at the shapes.
All in all, this was a fun product. I will be printing more pages so my kids can continue playing with pattern blocks.
