Mardi Gras Pattern Worksheets | Preschool and Kindergarten Math

Mardi Gras gives us plenty of things that naturally repeat: purple, green and gold, beads, masks, music, crowns and enough decorations to make subtlety leave the building entirely. So it also happens to work pretty well for teaching patterns.

These Mardi Gras pattern worksheets give preschool and kindergarten students practice recognizing and completing AB, ABC, AAB and ABB patterns. There are 40 printable worksheets, including 20 full-color pages and 20 matching black-and-white versions, so you can choose what works for your students and your printer ink situation.

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Mardi Gras Math Activities

Seasonal themes can be useful because they give you a different way to practice a skill students are already learning.

You don’t need to create an entire Mardi Gras unit. If you’re working on patterns, these worksheets let you swap in masks, beads, fleur-de-lis, crowns, umbrellas, drums and other Mardi Gras pictures while keeping the math skill the same.

The Mardi Gras pictures make the activity seasonal. Recognizing the repeating unit and determining what comes next is the math.

Four Types of Math Patterns

The worksheets include four different pattern structures:

• AB patterns, such as mask, fleur-de-lis, mask, fleur-de-lis
• ABC patterns, with three different pictures repeating
• AAB patterns, with two matching pictures followed by a different picture
• ABB patterns, with one picture followed by two matching pictures

The packet progresses through all four types in both color and black-and-white versions.

That makes it easier to choose worksheets based on the pattern your student is currently learning instead of assuming every student needs the same page because they’re the same age or in the same class.

Download the Mardi Gras Pattern Worksheets

The complete printable includes 40 Mardi Gras pattern worksheets covering AB, ABC, AAB and ABB patterns. You’ll get 20 color worksheets plus 20 corresponding black-and-white pages, with four patterns to complete on each worksheet.

Use them for Mardi Gras math centers, pattern practice, early math intervention, homeschool activities or seasonal classroom work.

Download the Mardi Gras Pattern Worksheets.

Don’t Stop at “What Comes Next?”

Completing the pattern is useful. But if you want to know whether a student actually understands the pattern, ask them to explain it.

Instead of only asking, “What comes next?” try asking:

What part keeps repeating?

A student might correctly choose the next Mardi Gras mask without really understanding why it belongs there. Asking them to identify the repeating unit gives you more information.

For a student who communicates differently, that explanation doesn’t have to be verbal. They can point to the repeating section, match pictures, select from choices, use AAC, or demonstrate the pattern with manipulatives.

We’re checking pattern recognition here, not auditioning anyone for a math podcast.

Hands-On Mardi Gras Math

Each worksheet has four incomplete patterns and a row of cut-apart Mardi Gras pictures at the bottom. Students cut out the pieces and use them to complete the patterns.

But cutting doesn’t have to be part of the math goal.

If a student has difficulty using scissors, you can pre-cut the pieces. The student can still analyze the pattern, choose the correct picture and place it in the appropriate space.

You could also laminate a few pages and add hook-and-loop dots to make reusable pattern activities for a math center or special education classroom.

Use the Black-and-White Mardi Gras Worksheets Differently

The black-and-white pages aren’t just there to save ink, although I’m certainly not going to argue with that benefit.

Students can color the pictures after completing the patterns. You can also use color to add another layer to the activity.

For example, have students color repeating objects using a repeating color pattern. Now they have to pay attention to both the objects and the colors.

Or let students create their own color pattern on one of the rows and explain the rule they used.

The black-and-white set mirrors the pattern practice in the color pages, giving you another version of the same skills without needing an entirely different activity.

Extend the Pattern Practice Beyond the Worksheet

Once students understand the patterns on paper, take the Mardi Gras theme off the worksheet.

Use colored blocks or counters in traditional Mardi Gras colors to create AB, ABC, AAB and ABB patterns. Students can copy your pattern, extend it and eventually create one of their own.

You can also make movement patterns. Clap-stomp-clap-stomp is an AB pattern. Clap-clap-stomp is an AAB pattern.

This is also an easy way to see whether a student understands the pattern structure or has simply learned how to complete a particular worksheet format.

Mardi Gras Pattern Worksheets for Preschool, Kindergarten and Special Education

These worksheets can work well for preschool and kindergarten math centers, morning work, small-group instruction, homeschool lessons, intervention and special education.

But use the pattern level rather than the grade label to decide where a student should begin.

A student working on AB patterns doesn’t need an ABC worksheet just because everyone else at the table has one. Likewise, a student who flies through AB patterns should be given something more challenging.