Santa Patterns Christmas Math Activity

Of all our Christmas math activities for preschoolers these charming Santa patterns are one of our favorites. They are a free, printable Christmas patterning card set featuring Santas in a rainbow of colors all lined up to teach preschoolers AB and ABC pattern types.

Pin this page with your other Christmas activities for preschoolers, because the end of this post offers five additional ways to utilize these pattern cards, so you get more teaching time for your prep time, too!

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small sum if you click through and make a purchase.

Do you feel the holiday cheer in the air? Our preschoolers certainly do! We’re here to channel that festive spirit into some educational fun with our Christmas preschool activities.

These Santa pattern cards not only make math fun and festive, but they also offer a fantastic opportunity for your little ones to develop their problem-solving skills.

Patterning is a fundamental math skill that sets the foundation for more complex concepts like multiplication and division. (It’s part of the algebraic discipline in math).

By using these cards, preschoolers will learn to recognize, create, complete, and extend simple AB and ABC patterns. Those are all skills addressed in our Preschool Learning Assessment and Portfolios.

Remember, learning should never feel like a chore. With these vibrant Santa pattern cards, your preschoolers will be so engrossed in this because it’s a hands-on math activity, sothey won’t even realize they’re learning valuable math skills.

And at the end of this post, we offer five additional ways to use these cards so you only have to prep once for multiple activities!

Why Use Santa Pattern Cards in Preschool?

There are so many learning opportunities that can be made out of basic pattern cards like these! Here’s why you need to add this fun Christmas math activity to your preschool lesson plans:

• They align with the interests and excitement of children during the holiday season, making learning more engaging and enjoyable.
  • This natural interest in Christmas and Santa Claus can be harnessed to encourage children’s active participation in learning activities.
• These pattern cards are educational tools that help children learn about different pattern forms and colors.
• They can be used in various ways, providing versatility in teaching methods.
  • And because of the variety in use, preschoolers’ attention for the theme will be prolonged, which creates more deep dive thematic teaching opportunities.

Free Santa Patterning Cards

These printable pattern cards feature Santas in rainbow colors, so there are loads of additional learning activities you can do with this single printable.

Try out these other Christmas Number Identification and Counting Activities, too!

What’s Included

In this freebie, you will receive eight full color pages of Santa pattern cards, each page containing five pattern card strips. Four pages are AB patterns, and the other four pages are ABC pattern cards.

The final page of the printable offers Santa pictures that can be cut out if not using color corresponding manipulatives.

Materials

• printable Santa pattern cards
• rainbow colored manipulatives (optional)

The Set-Up

Print the math patterning cards on heavy card stock and laminate for added durability. We like this Fiskars Rotary Paper Cutter and this Scotch laminator is our ‘ol stand by.

You’ll need to print a couple of copies of the page of Santas so that you have plenty of Santa cards to finish each pattern.

Cut apart the pattern cards and place them in a pile on a tray. Place the Santa pieces in another pile. Now invite your preschooler to join you in some Santa themed pattern fun!

How to Teach Patterns to Preschoolers

This set of printable pattern cards comes with a couple of variations. You will get the following pattern types:

• AB patterns
• ABC patterns

And you get three pages of each pattern. All in a free printable, no less!

Tips for teaching patterning skills to preschoolers:

• Begin with simple patterns (like AB patterns) before moving on to the more difficult ABC patterns.
• Model the activity before having your preschooler do the pattern cards on their own.
• Have your preschooler “read” the pattern before placing an answer.
• Younger preschoolers might not see or hear the pattern.
  • Try reading it aloud to them, pointing to each Santa, and using a sing-songy voice.
• Some preschoolers get overwhelmed by the number of Santa “answer” choices.
  • Limit those choices to two or three to make finding the right color Santa a little easier for your preschooler.
• Preschoolers learn to recognize patterns by first copying them, so you can also have your preschooler add colored manipulatives over each Santa before finding the answer.

Christmas Pattern Activities for Preschoolers

While these cards features colorful Santa patterns, here are some other Christmas patterning cards your preschoolers will also love.

• Gumdrop PatterningMats
• Christmas Patterning Worksheets
• Christmas Playdough Patterns

More Santa Patterning Ideas

Some preschoolers benefit from an even greater tactile approach to learning patterns. If you have a preschooler like that, just add some manipulatives for him or her to use in conjunction with the cards. This will work fine motor skills.

Here are some more ideas:

• Use pom poms and tweezers to add a hand strengthening element.
• Use legos to copy the pattern, and then have your preschooler build the same pattern by stacking the legos into a tower.
• Use mini erasers in rainbow colors to add another fine motor element. Without tweezers, mini erasers help children develop their pincer grasp.
• If you don’t need to reuse the patterning cards, you can also have your preschoolers draw on the ending Santa.

Christmas Math Activities

As promised, I’m going to share a few other ways to use these printable patterning cards so you don’t have to scrounge around for a bunch more Christmas preschool activities. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Add these patterning cards to a sensory bin filled with rainbow colored pom poms and allow your preschoolers to explore the patterns naturally within the sensory bin.
2. Print the Santa cards on colored printer paper and invite your preschoolers to cut apart the Santas and make their own patterns. Have them paste the patterns on a sheet of paper to make a Christmas book and take home.
3. Or, add the finished product to your Christmas themed preschool math centers. Preschoolers love seeing their work on display in their classroom.
4. Use these Santa patterning cards during circle time to practice patterning as a whole class. Show the cards to your preschoolers one at a time and invite them to read a few patterns with you. Then challenge them to continue the pattern.
5. Speaking of continuing the pattern, see if your preschoolers can use rainbow colored manipulatives to continue the pattern off the card. Then practice counting how many Santas are in the pattern line. You can also use dot stickers for continuing patterns.

Grab Your Free Santa Patters Printable Here

Think your preschoolers will love all these Santa math activities? They will, I promise. Grab your free printable by clicking the image below.

Then keep reading for more free Christmas printables and Christmas preschool centers.

Sarah Punkoney, MAT

I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.

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