Ages 3–5 · 8 little discoveries
Piko's Pattern Trail
Eight little discoveries: matching pictures, groups, patterns, ordering and an arrow trip with Piko.
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Same picture, one difference
Match a reference picture by its visible features and notice which feature differs.
Piko has a yellow, dotted circle card. Its match must be a yellow, dotted circle too. Look at the shape first.
This card is yellow too, but it has three corners: a triangle. Same colour, different shape. Not a match!
Now both are circles. One is purple and crossed, the other yellow and dotted. Same shape, different colour.
A match has the same shape and the same colour. Sometimes there are two matches; touch both!
One rule makes a group
Group all pictures using one stated feature while other features vary.
Piko is sorting cards. The rule: circles. Every circle joins, whatever its colour.
The yellow triangle stays out, because it is not a circle. Ask each card: are you a circle?
Now the rule changes: yellow, dotted cards. The yellow square and the yellow triangle both join!
Listen to the rule first. Touch every card that fits. When the rule changes, make a new group.
A pair that repeats
Extend a stated two-picture AB repeating unit in the same order.
Piko makes a trail: leaf, apple; leaf, apple. The same pair repeats again and again.
What comes after the second apple? A leaf again! A new pair starts with a leaf.
It works with other pictures too: circle, triangle; circle, triangle. Say the pair out loud!
Choose a picture from the tray, then touch a numbered place. When you finish, check the trail from the start.
A place inside the pattern
Restore internal gaps in an explicitly stated AB repeating pattern.
A card is missing from Piko’s trail! The rule is the same: leaf, apple. Start at the beginning and follow the pair.
There is a leaf before the gap and a leaf after it. What goes between two leaves? An apple!
Sometimes two places are empty. Keep counting from the start. Every picture must fit the rule.
Choose a picture, then touch the gap. At the end, check the whole trail.
Put sizes in order
Order three pictures by relative size in a specified direction.
Piko’s three circles have the same colour and mark. Only their sizes are different: small, middle, large.
For large to small, start with the largest. Then the middle one, and last the smallest.
Small to large is the other way: smallest first, largest last. Listen for which way!
Choose a card, then touch place 1, 2 or 3. You can move it if you want.
Before and after
Order events and identify before or after within an explicitly given picture plan.
Piko is drawing a house. First the roof, then the walls, last the door.
The picture with only the roof comes first. When the walls are added, the house grows.
The door comes after the walls. What was there just before the door? The roof and walls!
Now a tower: one block, then two, then three. One block is added each time.
Two clues together
Select only pictures satisfying two explicitly stated features at the same time.
Piko’s new rule has two clues: yellow AND triangle. A card needs both. A yellow circle does not fit, because it is not a triangle.
A turquoise triangle does not fit either: it is a triangle but not yellow. Check one clue, then the other.
Only yellow triangles join this group. There can be more than one; touch them all!
Another rule: large AND circle. A card must be large and a circle. Listen to the new rule!
A short arrow journey
Follow a two-to-four-step direction sequence on a fixed grid in its stated order.
Piko is on a board of squares. The arrows show the way. Follow them from left to right; each arrow means one square.
Right arrow: the square to the right. Down arrow: the square below. Left and up work the same way!
Numbers appear on the squares you visit. You cannot go on a rock square. No diagonal steps!
If a step is wrong, use “Undo one step” and choose again. No rush!