Patterns are how we make sense of our world. From birth, we learn by observing the way the world works, recognizing patterns, and applying visual metaphors across disciplines. For instance, when infants push Cheerios off the edge of the kitchen table, they begin to understand the concept of gravity long before they have the words to express it or the equations to explain it. Toddlers recognize visually distinct patterns—a circle like a ball, a spiral like a shell, or an explosion like a dandelion—without knowing their names but distinguishing them nonetheless.

Learning empirically engages our spatial reasoning and relational thinking. This ability to identify and apply patterns powers scientific and design breakthroughs, like Leonardo da Vinci’s insights, Watson and Crick’s discovery of DNA, or Newton’s understanding of gravity.

The Pattern Alphabet is a tool for building a visual vocabulary of nature’s patterns, helping children classify everything they see into types—geometric, organic, symmetric, and more. It empowers children to observe and categorize their world, laying the groundwork for scientific exploration and design thinking.

Design Thinking for Kids

The Pattern ABC and its activities are powerful tools to spark design thinking in young minds—a perspective with profound potential for local and global impact.

What’s Included

The Pattern ABC is printed on durable, see-through polypropylene cards. These cards act as lenses, helping children of all ages align patterns with things they encounter in their world, whether natural or man-made, and uncover their designs.

The Pattern ABC Clear Cards includes one (1) set of 34 cards with a carabiner. Other materials can be collected by user for enhanced play. We recommend collecting toothpicks, popsicle sticks, yarn, or other household items that can be manipulated to create patterns. More resources can be found on na2ure.org or @na2ure on Instagram.