Pattern Blocks

Plastic Pattern Blocks

Pattern Blocks are one of the mathematical manipulatives developed in the 1960s by Education Development Center as part of their Elementary Science Study project. They are both a play resource and a tool for learning in mathematics, which serve to develop spatial reasoning skills that are fundamental to the learning of mathematics. Among other things, they allow children to see how shapes can be composed and decomposed into other shapes, and introduce children to ideas of tilings. Pattern blocks sets include multiple copies of just six shapes:

• Equilateral triangle (Green)
• 60° rhombus (2 triangles) (Blue) that can be matched with two of the green triangles
• 30° Narrow rhombus (Beige) with the same side-length as the green triangle
• Trapezoid (half hexagon or 3 triangles) (Red) that can be matched with three of the green triangles
• Regular Hexagon (6 triangles) (Yellow) that can be matched with six of the green triangles
• Square (Orange) with the same side-length as the green triangle

All the angles are multiples of 30° (1/12 of a circle): 30° (1×), 60° (2×), 90° (3×), 120° (4×), and 150° (5×).

Use

The blocks were designed with their possibilites for both mathematics and play in mind. The advice given in the 1968 EDC Teachers' Guide is: "Take out the blocks, and play with them yourself. Try out some of your own ideas. Then, when you give the blocks to the children, sit back and watch what they do." Christopher Danielson identifies a number of frequent features of play which occur:

• Composing and Decomposing
• Symmetry
• Patterns
• Three Dimensions
• Negative Space
• Representational

Pattern Blocks are used for creative design: tiling patterns; pictures of animals, flowers, boats, rockets, and so on, and for mathematical purposes other than geometric (e.g., introducing ideas of fractions and proportionality).

An example of their use is given by Meha Agrawal: "Starting from the center, I would add tier after tier of blocks to build my pattern — it was an iterative process, because if something didn't look aesthetically appealing or fit correctly, it would require peeling off a layer and reevaluating ways to fix it. The best part was the gratification I received when my creation was complete. Though individually boring, collectively these blocks produced an intricate masterpiece that brought art and math, big-picture and detail, simplicity and complexity closer together".

Developments

A number of compatible shapes that extend pattern blocks are commercially available. Two sets of "Fractional Pattern Blocks" exist: both with two blocks. The first has a pink double hexagon and a black chevron equivalent to four triangles. The second has a brown half-trapezoid and a pink half-triangle. Another set, Deci-Blocks, is made up of six shapes, equivalent to four, five, seven, eight, nine and ten triangles respectively.

Christopher Danielson developed a new set of five blocks, Twenty-First Century Pattern Blocks. The rhombus in this set has the same size as the blue rhombus in the traditional set. The dart and the 30°–60°–90° triangle have the same area, while the kite and the hexagon are twice that area. Like the traditional set, all the angles are multiples of 30°.

The black chevron and pink double hexagon are one set of fraction pattern blocks

The purple triangle and brown quadrilateral are another pair of fraction pattern blocks.

Pattern Blocks and Deci-Blocks

Twenty-First Century Pattern Blocks

Examples

Example constructions

Regular dodecagons			Isotoxal octagon

External links

• Pattern Block Templates: Printable Worksheets for Pattern Blocks
• Flash Pattern Blocks for web and Mandalar for mobile devices (iOS/Android).
• ETA/Cuisenaire: Educational manipulatives & supplemental materials for grades PreK-12.
• Background on the Elementary Science Study
• Educational and supplemental materials for K-12
• Secondary school activities using pattern blocks