Which patterns are there?

AB (apple, fish, apple, fish), ABB, ABC and a mixed set where every row has a different pattern, including AAB.

How do children fill in the boxes?

They draw the next pictures in the dotted boxes. For younger children, print a second copy, cut out pictures and glue them in.

Why practice patterns?

Spotting the part that repeats is the start of algebraic thinking, and it builds the habit of looking for structure, which helps with counting on, skip counting and times tables later.

Is there an answer key?

Yes, at the end of the PDF, with the missing pictures drawn in.

Pattern Worksheets: What Comes Next? AB, ABB and ABC Picture Patterns

From AB to ABC

Start with AB patterns, which most children in pre-K can continue. ABB and ABC patterns have a longer repeating part, so children need to hold more in mind. The mixed set is a good check: every row asks them to find the rule again.

Make it physical

Before the sheet, build the same pattern with blocks, claps or children standing in a line. Then the drawing makes sense.

Provincial curriculum links

BC KRepeating patterns with two or three elements, and finding the core that repeats.
BC Grade 1Repeating patterns with several elements, coded with letters, and predicting missing elements.
ON Grade 1Using patterns to make predictions.
ON Grade 3Identifying and describing what repeats in a pattern.

BC’s Grade 1 content has students move patterns between forms and code them with letters, which is just what the AB, ABB and ABC labels on this page do. BC also suggests noticing repeating patterns in First Peoples and local art, such as beadwork; showing a photo of a beaded design before the sheet connects the idea to something real.

In Ontario, patterns sit in the Algebra strand from Grade 1, and later grades connect them to coding, such as a program that repeats the same step.

Summarized in our own words from the BC Mathematics curriculum (K–1) and Ontario’s overview of The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8: Mathematics (2020).