Spatial thinking is very important because as your child becomes aware of the world around her, and the objects that make up her environment, she will show this in her drawings. The objects your child draws will rarely be drawn in connection to one another (where they are drawn on the page). Nor will the drawing be organized on the paper. An example of this is when you look at your child’s drawing and see everything “floating” on the paper.
When you see this, your immediate thought is that the picture is wrong, people and objects/forms don’t float in space. Don’t focus on the product, rather focus on the process your child went through to show you her ability to arrange the objects/forms on the page.
Specific kinds of play are associated with development of certain cognitive skills. Spatial play will support your child’s ability to discern where she is in relation to an object and where objects are in relation to other objects.
Parents should support their children’s development of spatial skills as early as the age of two, but let’s say for a moment you were not thinking about this when your child was two. It is not too late to start teaching the concept because now that your child is four she will be able to grasp the concept of spatial skills more quickly.
And there are fun ways to practice!
Turn an everyday routine into a spatial activity for your child:
1. Talk about things your child can see in a modified version of I Spy, as in “I spy a pink cup in the kitchen on the counter next to the stove” and then have her go find the pink cup.
2. Hide an object that is of interest to your child and then give instruction for her to f ind it, e.g. “The doll is in the toy chest in the playroom.”
3. Ask your child to tell you which things are closer or farther away, e.g. “Which is closer to you: the couch or the TV?”
4. Sit together and complete a 3-D jigsaw puzzle.
5. Build a model together that has detailed instructions and pictures showing how to complete it.
