Class 2 patterns: spotting, extending and creating
Patterns are where maths and puzzling meet. In Class 2 children look at a run of numbers, shapes or colours, work out the rule that makes it, and then carry it on. It is playful work, and it quietly builds the reasoning that Olympiad questions love.
The one question that unlocks every pattern is "what is the rule?" — what changes from one step to the next. Once a child can say the rule out loud ("it goes up by two"), extending the pattern is easy.
What your child needs to know
- Spot the rule in a number, shape or colour pattern
- Continue a pattern by a few more terms
- Find a missing term in the middle of a pattern
- Make their own pattern from a rule
- Recognise growing patterns (going up) and shrinking ones (going down)
Worked examples
What comes next: 2, 4, 6, 8, ___ ?
Hint — how much does each number go up by?
Each number is 2 more than the one before, so the next is 8 + 2 = 10.
Continue the shape pattern: circle, square, circle, square, ___ ?
Hint — the shapes take turns.
Circle and square keep alternating, so after square comes a circle.
What comes next: 5, 10, 15, 20, ___ ?
Hint — this is counting in fives.
Each number is 5 more than the last, so after 20 comes 25.
What comes next: 20, 18, 16, ___ ?
Hint — this pattern is going down. By how much each time?
Each number is 2 less than the one before, so after 16 comes 14.
How Olympiads test this
Pattern questions are a favourite of Olympiads such as SOF IMO and CREST CMO because they test reasoning directly. At Class 2 they ask children to continue a number or shape sequence, or to find a missing term in the middle. Sometimes a picture pattern repeats in a block of three. Plenty of "what is the rule?" practice at home prepares a child well, without predicting any exam's exact questions.
Practice questions
Show 5 practice questions and answers
- What comes next: 3, 6, 9, ___ ? — 12
- Continue: red, blue, red, blue, ___ ? — red
- What comes next: 10, 20, 30, ___ ? — 40
- What comes next: 25, 20, 15, ___ ? — 10
- Continue: triangle, triangle, square, triangle, triangle, square, ___ ? — triangle
Inside Talyzo: World 11, Good Habits
Patterns is World 11, themed around good habits — daily routines that repeat, like a pattern you can rely on. As in every world, each question gives a hint before the answer and a full explanation after, so finding the rule becomes a game a child wants to win.
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