Create a Pattern Activity and Eight Hands Round Book Review

Book Review

by Kathy Porter

Every state celebrates it’s history one way or another. In Utah, our state holiday is Pioneer Day on July 24th. This nonfiction book showcases various American pioneer quilt styles in alphabetical order.

Book cover picture here. Add the link to the src and replace this text with a description.

Even though the vocabulary is suitable for older children or adults, younger children may be intrigued as they learn new words for ABCs. For instance, A is for Anvil. There is a colorful illustration of an anvil styled quilt with a historical description. My favorite is H is for Honeycomb. Utah is the Beehive State but even though Utah isn’t mentioned in the quilt description, it was fun to read how honey was cultivated and used in the olden days. A parent or teacher could also point out the hexagon shape of the quilt blocks for a little math discussion.

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Completed activity
Activity:

Make a pattern.

Supplies:

● White paper ● Scissors and ruler ● Crayons or markers and pencils

Directions:
  1. After reading and discussing the book, turn to P is for Postage Stamp. Make a postage stamp pattern by cutting white paper into an 8x8 square. Picture of activity steps.
  2. Fold the paper 6 times to make 64 squares. Crease each fold carefully so they are easy to see.
  3. Set up a pattern by coloring and repeating certain colors. For example: Red, Yellow, Green, White and repeat until the page is filled.
  4. Another picture of steps
Different Variations:
  • Children can scrunch the paper into a tight ball and carefully unfold it to reveal various angular shapes.
  • Color each shape to make a Crazy Quilt pattern. The shapes are a lot smaller, so half or a fourth sized paper may be better to complete the pattern in a short amount of time.

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