Spatial Awareness Activities Improve Processing and Concentration

This article provides helpful information for children who need spatial awareness activities to build processing and attention in the classroom. Integrated Learning Strategies (ILS) is a learning and academic center. As a reminder, ILS is not a health care provider and none of our materials or services provide a diagnosis or treatment of a specific condition or learning challenge you may see in your child or student. If you seek a diagnosis or treatment for your child or student, please contact a trained professional who can provide an evaluation of the child.

As babies and toddlers explore the world around them, they begin to develop spatial awareness. This development only continues as the child grows older and starts discovering the world around them. Spatial awareness is the ability for a child to know and understand their relationship to space within their environment and the objects around them.

Important skills are developed as the child’s spatial awareness is formed. A few of these skills include the following:

• Direction (right, left, up, down)
• Distance (near, far, closer, farther)
• Location (above, below, inside, outside, north, south, east, west)
• Movement (through, over, around)
• Perspective (how does an object look from different angles)

How can Spatial Awareness Development Help Kids Learn?

Children who cultivate strong spatial awareness skills improve how they process visual and physical information around them. These skills become important for different learning elements in the classroom and in social situations.

A few examples of how spatial awareness may impact a child’s learning are as follows:

Problem Solving

When children are little, they begin interpreting shapes, angles and position in space. You may see this when a child tries to fit a square block into a circular space. Or, when kids begin learning how to fit puzzle pieces together. As the child solves each problem and understands how to interpret the pieces, their problem-solving skills grow. Research shows children who develop strong spatial awareness skills also do better in STEM-type subjects.

Reading and Language Development

Children who have developed spatial awareness can process information better through their visual system as they read line to line, paragraph to paragraph. They can also easily follow directions, ready maps and understand graphs or diagrams. When it comes to language skills, kids can use spatial terms to describe where they are and where they need to go. For example, “I’m meeting my friend around the corner on the left side of the lamp post on West Elm Avenue.”

Math Skills

Math is one subject that utilizes spatial awareness skills almost all the time. Children use these skills as they learn measurements, equations, patterns and graphs. When a child manipulates objects through play in their younger years, they develop better spatial awareness skills for more difficult math elements as they grow older.

Physical and Motor Skills

Children who improve their spatial awareness skills have stronger balance and coordination skills. When these motor movements are fully developed, kids are able to attend and focus better in the classroom. Activities that include jumping, throwing, crawling and climbing can also help children do the following:

• Write words across the page
• Letter formation and letter directionality
• Manipulate and hold a writing device
• Tie shoes
• Use buttons and zippers
• Sit in their chair rather than lying on their desk

Social Boundaries and Emotional Grounding

Developing spatial awareness skills also helps children understand social boundaries. A child who struggles with spatial awareness is often known as a “close talker” or is consistently in another person’s personal space. Kids who are aware of where their body is in space tend to be more confident and regulated when it comes to interacting with their social peers.

What happens when Spatial Awareness Skill are Delayed?

If a child struggles with spatial awareness skills you may find they have trouble with simple tasks as they move in and around their environment. In addition, some children who experience delays in spatial awareness, may also have one or more retained Primitive Reflexes.

As you observe your child or students at home and in the classroom, a child with spatial awareness trouble may have difficulty with the following:

• Balance and coordination skills
• Runs into furniture or trips on flat surfaces
• Moves awkwardly and seems clumsy
• Has trouble reading the chalkboard
• Can’t get notes from the chalkboard to their paper
• Is overwhelmed in large spaces or large crowds

Spatial Awareness Activities

To improve a child’s spatial awareness, there are some fun activities you can do with your child or students to strengthen their skills. Many of these games and activities will enhance the child’s foundational motor skills, which translates over to their cognitive learning.

These activities are meant for children ages three years and older. Parents, therapists, educators and other professionals can use these activities at home, in school or in therapy sessions. Activities can be adapted or altered to fit the level of the child.

Spatial Awareness Activity Recommendations

A few of our favorite activities to strengthen a child’s spatial awareness includes the following:

#1 – Bubble Dodge – Blow bubbles in the air and ask the child to dodge the bubbles (duck, dip, slide) before they pop or fall on you.

#2 – Furniture Obstacle Course – Place some furniture around the room. Have the child start on one end of the room and climb, crawl or go around the furniture to get to the end of the obstacle course.

#3 – Shadow Tag – Play tag outside on a sunny day and have the child jump on another person’s shadow to tag them.

#4 – Mirror Game – Stand in front of your child or student and have the child mirror your movements (arm in the air, bend over, touch your shoulders, etc.).

#5 – Balloon Lava – Hit a balloon in the air with your hands and don’t let it hit the ground. The child also has to avoid running into or hitting any furniture as an added challenge.

#6 – Body Shapes – In a small group or with a friend, have the child use their body to create different shapes (circle, triangle, square, etc.).

#7 – Bean Bag Toss – Place buckets around the room (near, far, on each side, etc.). Have the child toss the bean bags into the buckets to better determine distance and perspective.

To download all 38 spatial awareness activity ideas, complete the form at the bottom of the page.

Spatial Awareness Game

To improve a child’s spatial awareness, you can also encourage them to participate in special games that target these skills within their environment. To get you started, here is a game with a few suggested movements you can add to the child’s weekly routine or therapy sessions.

This playful game allows you to call out queues and sequences to help you child or student’s spatial awareness and spatial memory. Adjust or adapt the game to the level of the child. You will need a whistle a squeaky toy or you can clap your hands to call the child back to their “home” spot on the floor.

Game Instructions

To get the game started, place a dot on the floor as the child’s home base. Ask the child to follow your queues and sequences and then come back to home base on your whistle or clap.

Start at home base and do the following:

#1 – Move away from home base and face in a different direction.

#2 – Choose two spots away from home; visit one and then the other.

#3 – Go to another spot while leaning your body to one side.

#4 – Make a 0 around your home base.

#5 – Move in this direction (pointing or saying left/right) while crawling, walking or jumping.

For all game directions and activities listed above, complete the form below and check your email inbox for the download. Please remember to check your junk or spam folder for the download link if you do not see it come through. If you have trouble downloading the game and activities, please email info@ilslearning.com.

References

Uttal, D. H., Meadow, N. G., Tipton, E., Hand, L. L., Alden, A. R., Warren, C., & Newcombe, N. S. (2013). The malleability of spatial skills: A meta-analysis of training studies. Psychological Bulletin, 139(2), 352–402. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22663761/

Newcombe, N. S., & Frick, A. (2010). Early education for spatial intelligence: Why, what, and how. Mind, Brain, and Education, 4(3), 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-228X.2010.01089.x

Verdine, B. N., Golinkoff, R. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Newcombe, N. S. (2014). Finding the missing piece: Blocks, puzzles, and shapes fuel school readiness. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 3(1), 7–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tine.2014.02.005

Casey, B. M., Andrews, N., Schindler, H., Kersh, J. E., Samper, A., & Copley, J. (2008). The development of spatial skills through interventions involving block building activities. Developmental Psychology, 44(2), 395–408. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.2.395

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Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning challenges achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, and Centerville areas. Areas to find Integrated Learning Strategies include: Reading tutors in Kaysville, Math tutors in Kaysville, Common Core Tutors in Kaysville, Tutors in Utah, Utah Tutoring Programs