In this article, we examine the potential of educational activities, involving non-numerical patterns, to support the development of algebraic reasoning in five-year-old children. We focus our attention on recursive and explicit relationships present between and within elements of these patterns. In order to identify the type of mathematical thinking students may apply while solving tasks, we analyze the students’ language and gestures, used in relation to the tasks’ mathematical characteristics. We pay special attention to the students’ difficulties and to the strategies used by teachers, to support the students’ understanding of non-numerical patterns.