Pattern Dance combines movement with math in a silly but powerful activity that shows how algebra for young kids can be generalized.
How to play: Children take turns creating a dance using three different motions in sequence. For example, in this video I chose kick-stomp-shake. The pattern is repeated over and over again in an A-B-C pattern.
Notice that after a few moments, I told my boys, "My mouth is getting tired of saying kick-stomp-shake. I am going to say A-B-C instead because it's shorter." I did this because adults sometimes don't properly connect the abbreviations used to describe patterns to the things they represent. The A-B-C represents the kick-stomp-shake. When the next leader of the activity chooses three actions for the pattern (hop-twist-clap, for example), this pattern can also be described with A-B-C.
Where's the math? Algebraic reasoning involves generalizing mathematical ideas from a set of particular instances (kick-stomp-shake), establishing those generalizations (hey, we can also use hop-twist-clap), and expressing the generalization in increasingly formal and age-appropriate ways (let's just say A-B-C because it means the same as hop-twist-clap and kick-stomp-shake).
If you like this idea, you'll love the bunches of lessons, games, and teaching tips in my new book Math-Positive Mindsets: Growing a Child's Mind without Losing Yours published by Math Solutions and available on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/Math-Positive-Mindsets-Growing-Childs-without/dp/1935099841/ref=sr_1_1?dchild.... My website
https://www.carriecutler.com/ also has dozens of ideas for teachers and parents of PreK to Grade 5. Check it out!
