This paper presents part of a study that aimed to understand how the emergence of algebraic
thinking takes place in a group of four-year-old children, as well as its relationship to the exploration of
children‘s literature. To further deepen and guide this study the following research questions were formulated:
(1) How can children's literature help preschoolers identify patterns?; (2) What strategies and thinking processes
do children use to create, analyze and generalize repeating and growing patterns?; (3) What strategies do
children use to identify the unit of repeat of a pattern? and (4) What factors influence the identification of
patterns? The paper focuses only on the strategies and thinking processes that children use to create, analyze and
generalize repeating patterns. The present study was developed with a group of 14 preschoolers in a private
school in Lisbon, and it was carried out with all children. In order to develop the research, a qualitative research
methodology under the interpretive paradigm was chosen, emphasizing meanings and processes. The researcher
took the dual role of teacher-researcher, conducting the study with her own group and in her own natural
environment. Participant observation and document analysis (audio and video recordings, photos and children
productions) were used as data collection methods. Data collection took place from October 2013 to April 2014.
The results of the study indicate that children master the concept of repeating patterns, and they are able to
identify the unit of repeat, create and analyze various repeating patterns, evolving from simpler to more complex
forms
