Importance of Spatial Sense

Importance of spatial sense in kids and how to improve it?

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Last Updated on October 2, 2023 by Editorial Team

What is Spatial Sense?

If you often caught yourself in a brown study, like I do on a regular basis, then at some point, you may have reached a state where you began acknowledging the abilities of your body that you just take for granted daily.

While I was wandering through my own chain of thoughts, a couple of questions came across my mind like what exactly defines my position in space?  How do I know where I am sitting? How do I know what’s behind me and how do I know what’s above me or below me? Well, there is a science working in the backend that helps me correlate myself to my surroundings. In professional terms, it is called Spatial awareness or Spatial senses.

Importance of Spatial Sense in Kids

As we discussed already Spatial sense is one’s awareness towards things around him/her. If you are able to describe and classify an object in terms of its shape, size, position, direction, and movement in relation to the physical world where it exists, then you have a strong spatial sense. Spatial awareness is a cognitive skill that children must develop or are expected to develop at an early stage of the brain development process.

It is the backbone of science working behind one’s visual perception of an object. Spatial sense is necessary for understanding various geometric aspects happening in the real world. Let’s take an example of a toddler playing with a toy. The fact that he knows how far to go in order to reach his toy or how far to throw in order to put the ball in the goal, all comes under his spatial abilities.

shapes size position moment of spatial awareness
Spatial sense is the ability to describe and classify an object in terms of its shape, size, position, direction, and movement in relation to the physical world where it exists.

There is no single explainable cause of poor spatial sense in an individual. A study[1] shows that genetics do play an important role. However, other than genes, there are several factors responsible for a weak spatial understanding of an individual. Poor spatial senses have been observed quite often in children with Development Coordination Disorder (DCD)[2], autism[3], dyscalculia[4], dyslexia[5], cerebral palsy[6], and many other conditions. The left hemisphere of our brain is responsible for our cognitive abilities, including our ability to do spatial calculations. Any sort of injury to this part of the brain may also weaken our spatial perception.

Difficulties faced with weak spatial senses

A child with a poor sense of spatial awareness will,

#1 often tend to bump into things.

#2 have trouble understanding simple concepts like ‘on’ ‘under’ ‘above’ ‘inside’ ‘outside’ ‘in’ ‘out’ ‘up’ ‘down’.

#3 trouble in understanding the abstract concepts of mathematics especially where shapes, areas, volume, and space are involved.

#4 poor directional understanding.

#5 unable to comprehend the projectile that well.

As a parent, you will observe such difficulties in day to day events of your kid. Check how often your child can catch the ball thrown at him, or how often he/she is able to put the ball in the goal or into the basket with accuracy.

Although this is not a sure shot diagnosis of a poor special sense to be on the safer side it gives you a heads up to call a special evaluator for your child to investigate his or her performance so that you can adapt a new learning process in an early stage of the brain development process.

How to manage and improve spatial senses?

Spatial sense is basically a skill that is learned and developed through practical experience. Adopting a new learning process in the early stages of childhood was found[7] to be quite effective in building a strong sense.

There are several activities for children to do at home to build strong spatial senses. Parents’ participation in such activities with their children is highly recommended.

kid playing blocks puzzles for spatial sense

Typical activities like,

1. keeping a reference object (probably something that the kid, say for example, his/her favorite doll) and asking what’s behind, in front of,  near, far, next, or above it.

2. collecting and playing with blocks and puzzles[7], building a fort with blocks. Try asking how many blocks were used and how they were arranged.

3. comparing of objects. For example, which one of these blocks is bigger? Is the height of the computer table more or less than the dining table? Which number block is closest or farthest from us?

4. some games like hide and seek for finding a lost object in the room could help.

5. discussing the shapes of real-life objects. Ask about the shape of the signboard that we just crossed.

Other than the activities mentioned above, you can also get professional help for your child. Treatment with occupational therapy[8] happens to be quite helpful in improving kids’ cognitive physical and motor skills. The therapist will observe the gross motor skills of the child in order to identify difficulty with spatial sense. After a thorough evaluation, the therapist works closely with parents and draws a remedial exercise schedule for the child as per his or her performance.

Now, this is all just a glimpse of what is spatial sense, why is it necessary? and how to manage if your child has weak spatial sense. If you want to learn more about spatial awareness, then follow the resources that we mentioned below

Research Paper: 

  1. Rimfeld, K., Shakeshaft, N. G., Malanchini, M., Rodic, M., Selzam, S., Schofield, K., Dale, P. S., Kovas, Y., & Plomin, R. (2017). Phenotypic and genetic evidence for a unifactorial structure of spatial abilities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(10), 2777-2782. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607883114
  2. Ke, L., Duan, W., Xue, Y., & Wang, Y. (2019). Developmental Coordination Disorder in Chinese Children Is Correlated With Cognitive Deficits. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 462849. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00404
  3. Smith, A. D. (2015). Spatial navigation in autism spectrum disorders: A critical review. Frontiers in Psychology, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00031
  4. Szucs, D., Devine, A., Soltesz, F., Nobes, A., & Gabriel, F. (2013). Developmental dyscalculia is related to visuo-spatial memory and inhibition impairment. Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 49(10), 2674-2688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2013.06.007
  5. Giovagnoli, G., Vicari, S., Tomassetti, S., & Menghini, D. (2016). The Role of Visual-Spatial Abilities in Dyslexia: Age Differences in Children’s Reading? Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01997
  6. Critten, V., Campbell, E., Farran, E., & Messer, D. (2018). Visual perception, visual-spatial cognition and mathematics: Associations and predictions in children with cerebral palsy. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 80, 180-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2018.06.007
  7. Beth M. Casey , Nicole Andrews , Holly Schindler , Joanne E. Kersh , Alexandra Samper & Juanita Copley (2008) The Development of Spatial Skills Through Interventions Involving Block Building Activities, Cognition and Instruction, 26:3, 269-309, DOI: 10.1080/07370000802177177
  8. Richmond, J. E., Taylor, M., & Evans, S. (2014). Developing Bilateral and Spatial Concepts in Primary School-aged Children: An Empirical Evaluation of the Anker Bilateral Spatial System.The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2(3).https://doi.org/10.15453/ 2168-6408.1094

Some books for children to expand their special sense:

  1. Me on the map by Joan Sweeney
  2. The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle
  3. Up, Down, and Around by Katherine Ayers and Nadine Bernard Westcott
  4. Big Bug by Henry Cole

Some online platforms to learn more about spatial perception: 

  1. Cognifit.com
  2. Ldonline.org
  3. Parentingscience.com

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