AB Pattern with Activities

An AB pattern is the simplest repeating pattern: two pictures alternating, over and over. This worksheet sets up such a pattern with action words — like running, jumping and swimming taking turns — and asks the child to continue it by placing the right picture in each blank wagon. Recognizing the back-and-forth rule and extending it builds pattern-awareness, a foundational Kindergarten readiness skill. There are no numbers, just the repeat.

Patterning begins with the AB pattern: notice the back-and-forth, predict the next. A child who can extend a two-element repeat is building the foundation for harder patterns and for ordered thinking. Using familiar action words keeps every choice about the alternating rule, and the task stays a looking-and-reasoning one, never a counting one.

Children who get the hang of the AB back-and-forth start predicting the next picture at a glance, and finishing a clean alternating train feels satisfying, a small and clear early win. When this feels easy, try the pattern in ab pattern with animals, or ab pattern with birds. You can also browse every pattern worksheet or the whole kindergarten collection — each sheet prints cleanly or plays online for free, and the more two-part patterns a child completes, the readier they are for patterns where a picture starts to double — the natural next step up the ladder.