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What comes next?

Strategy card

Shapes can change in more than one way at once.

  1. Step 1: Look at just one feature (like turning) across the row.
  2. Step 2: Then look at another (like color or count).
  3. Step 3: Apply each change to the last picture.
  4. Step 4: Find the answer that has every change.

Tip: Track features one by one; don't try to see everything at once.

Worked example

Which figure comes next in the pattern?

red heart
2 red diamonds
3 red squares
4 red hearts
red diamond
question mark, the missing picture?
  • A: red square
  • B: 2 red diamonds
  • C: 3 red squares
  • D: 2 red squares (the answer)

Why: One more shape each step (then it starts again at one). The shape repeats heart, diamond, square, again and again. So next comes the 2 red squares.

Your turn

Your turn 1 of 3

Which figure comes next in the pattern?

red arrow pointing left
2 red arrows pointing up
3 red arrows pointing right
4 red arrows pointing down
red arrow pointing left
question mark, the missing picture?

Your turn 2 of 3

Which figure comes next in the pattern?

striped green diamond
2 outlined green diamonds
3 green diamonds
4 striped green diamonds
outlined green diamond
question mark, the missing picture?

Your turn 3 of 3

Which figure comes next in the pattern?

red arrow pointing left
2 red arrows pointing up
3 red arrows pointing right
4 red arrows pointing down
red arrow pointing left
question mark, the missing picture?

Keep practicing

Grown-ups: Ask your child to invent a pattern with two changes for you to solve. Parent guide

Next lesson: Analogies: find the link