🎨 Moving & making · Ages 4–5 · about 3 weeks

Print a Pattern for Outdoor Play

Goal: Make a repeating printed or drawn border and use its rule in an outdoor movement game.

For parents: Use optional washable, age-suitable paint under close adult supervision, or crayons already at home. An adult checks tools and keeps them out of mouths. Wash hands after painting. Outdoors, choose clear, level ground away from roads and water. Stay nearby and offer seated movements or indoor play.

Do together

  1. Two tools, two marks

    You need: A large unbreakable cup, a smooth wooden spoon, paper and optional paint or crayons

    Print with the cup rim and the back of the spoon, or draw around them with adult help. Compare the ring and oval marks. Try pressing lightly and lifting straight up. Choose which tool will make each part of a border.

  2. Keep the border going

    You need: The tools, paper and optional paint or crayons

    Make a border with a ring, two ovals, then another ring and two ovals. Say the repeating group together. Invite your child to continue it. If a mark overlaps, keep going or make it part of a new idea. Let painted work dry before using it.

  3. Read our movement border

    You need: The dry picture and a safe outdoor space

    Outside, agree an action for each mark: open hands for a ring and touch shoulders for an oval. Point along the border while your child follows its rule. Play seated or standing, then swap who points. Choose comfortable actions; no speed or competition is needed.

Talk about it

  • How are the two printed marks different?
  • Which group repeats in your border?
  • What action should an oval mean in our game?

Words to use

  • print
  • ring
  • oval
  • border
  • repeat
  • rule

Play

  • Pattern Parade
    Patterns
Play these games free

Every game is free for every family until 20 November 2026.

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