Patterns sit underneath both reading and arithmetic. Blue, red, green, blue, red, green: making a sequence, copying it, then breaking it on purpose builds the ordering that words and numbers both run on.

What the research says

A small randomised trial found rhythm based music training improved phonological awareness and some reading skills in children with dyslexia, which is the closest direct support for working on timing and sequence away from print. Separately, early cognitive behavioural work with anxious adolescents reduced test and social anxiety with benefits still visible two years later, so the fear around these tasks is itself treatable rather than something to work around forever. Both are modest studies and neither tested patterns made from blocks.

Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.