What Is Spatial Intelligence and How Does It Help Kids

Spatial intelligence, also known as visual-spatial intelligence or spatial IQ, is essential in a variety of academic and professional disciplines. It is one of the nine bits of intelligence postulated by psychologist Howard Gardner in his Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Despite its relevance, it is rarely included in kindergarten or elementary school curricula. We can, thankfully, assist our children to enhance their visual-spatial abilities through easy and enjoyable exercises.

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What exactly is Spatial Intelligence?

Spatial intelligence, also known as visual-spatial intelligence or spatial thinking, is the ability to mentally conceive or see the locations of things, their forms, their spatial relationships to one another, and the movements they make to establish new spatial relations. It is the ability to visualize and reason spatially in one’s brain. Understanding and retaining the relative positions of items in the mind is what spatial reasoning entails. Mental movement, rotation, and transformation may all be used to manipulate objects.

In our daily lives, we regularly employ spatial intelligence to generate spatial awareness.

Here are some examples of visual-spatial talents in our daily lives:

Before entering his bedroom to retrieve a toy, a child imagines where it is. When we pack our bags, we imagine how various objects can fit together in a little space. To put together a piece of furniture, we must match the two-dimensional diagrams in the instructions with the three-dimensional furniture pieces.

Characteristics Of Visual Spatial Intelligence

People’s preferred cognitive thinking methods vary.

Some people think in words and are verbal thinkers. They are more at ease with verbal activities that are semantically and acoustically difficult. Written and spoken explanations are typically preferred by verbalizers over images and diagrams.

Others are visual thinkers, who approach subjects through visual depiction. Visualizers are classified into two kinds.

Visualizers of space
They consider schematic pictures, spatial relationships between objects, and spatial transformations. However, the images they depict are devoid of visual information.
Visualizers of objects
They visualize particular items in vivid, graphic, and high-resolution pictures.

Spatial visualizers often have stronger spatial abilities than object visualizers or verbalizers.

So, if your child is a visual-spatial learner, they may have an advantage when it comes to spatial thinking.

Visual-spatial intelligence, on the other hand, is not a set talent. Although some people are better than others at spatial processing, the good news is that everyone may improve via visual-spatial exercises.

Visual/spatial ability could be improved via training and practice.

Although there are old beliefs that boys are better in spatial thinking, and therefore STEM subjects, than girls, large amount of recent studies have debunked this myth

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Females in America, on aveanger, perform worse than males on various spatial tasks, most notably mental rotation utilizing spatial working memory. This tendency could be caused by the way children are reared in this society.

Recent research in Italy split 152 high school students into three groups and gave each group different instructions on a spatial IQ test. Participants in one group were told that women outperformed men at this activity, while participants in another group were told that men outperformed women, and participants in the third group were told there was no gender difference. The results indicated that women in the first group scored similarly to males.

Another Italian study found that believing in effort rather than natural talent can enhance spatial identification abilities.

Researchers also discovered that the more a group of men and women practise spatial thinking, the smaller the gender difference in visual-spatial skills becomes.

As a result, one’s attitude and belief in oneself, as well as the significance of effort, may make a significant difference in visual-spatial task performance.

Here’s further evidence suggesting there are linkages between the gender gap and how children are reared. Such a gender difference in visual-spatial intelligence does not exist in a rural village in India where women have equal or more privileges than males.

Is Visual-Spatial Intelligence Fixed Or Malleable?

People have distinct cognitive thinking patterns that they like.

Some people think in words and are verbal thinkers. They are more at ease with verbal activities that are semantically and acoustically difficult. Written and spoken explanations are typically preferred by verbalizers over images and diagrams.

Others are visual thinkers, who approach subjects through visual depiction. Visualizers are classified into two kinds.

• Spatial visualizers: They consider schematic pictures, spatial relationships between objects, and spatial transformations. However, the images they depict are devoid of visual information.
• Object visualizers: They visualise particular items in vivid, graphic, and high-resolution pictures.

Spatial visualizers often have stronger spatial abilities than object visualizers or verbalizers.

So, if your child is a visual-spatial learner, he or she has an advantage when it comes to spatial thinking.

Visual-spatial intelligence, on the other hand, is not a set talent.

Although some people are better than others at spatial thinking, the good news is that everyone can improve.

Spatial thinking, and hence mathematics and STEM learning, could be improved via training and practise.

How Do We Use Spatial Intelligence?

Math

Mathematical learning relies heavily on spatial abilities. According to research, having strong visual-spatial abilities correlates with higher levels of mathematical success.

Examples of spatial abilities in mathematics:

To aid geometric computation and pattern identification, a learner builds a mental geometric object that can be measured, moved, and altered.
A mathematician improves quantity comparison, arithmetic, and number awareness by using visual-spatial reasoning.

STEM

Visual-spatial abilities are also important in many academic and professional disciplines, including computer science, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

According to research, college students who perform well on spatial reasoning examinations are more likely to study in STEM fields and pursue STEM professions 3.

Examples of visual-spatial abilities in STEM:

A geoscientist visualizes the process of earth creation by mentally manipulating the movement of tectonic plates.
To anticipate the result of an operation, a neurosurgeon visualizes several brain regions.
A civil engineer imagines how different forces can impact the design of a system.
Architects and engineers utilize a variety of materials in varying forms and sizes to build sturdy structures.

STEM fields are not the only ones that require excellent spatial abilities to thrive. Other fields of employment need a high level of spatial skills as well.

Examples of spatial abilities in society:

A designer employs the notion of visual-spatial reasoning to improve the user experience of his product.
A visual artist makes amazing works of art.
A gymnast utilizes spatial awareness to accomplish a series of human body motions.

Early Learning and Visual-Spatial Intelligence

Scientists have shown that early childhood education has a significant impact in preparing our children for subsequent success in spatial learning 13.

Neuroscientists have discovered that certain brain areas involved for understanding about location and spatial relationships emerge in very early infancy 14. In fact, the spatial abilities of toddlers can predict their future achievement in arithmetic learning in middle and high school 15.

Parents, as the children’s first instructors, can begin teaching young children, even toddlers, the fundamentals of spatial thinking.

It is never too early to begin familiarising your baby with spatial relationships 16. Infants as young as four months old have been reported to exhibit spatial awareness deficits.

Spatial skill and knowledge build up over time and are long-lasting. Those who acquire the abilities in their early infancy, regardless of gender, will have more opportunities to practise and develop them later in life.

How to Improve Visual Spatial Intelligence

In everyday encounters, use spatial language.

By utilizing more spatial terminology in everyday interactions, parents can assist their children to develop their spatial intelligence.

Spatial language is a very effective spatial learning tool. One of the finest spatial awareness activities for kids is to use spatial terminology in daily situations.

Babies learn better when spatial relationships are named.

Preschoolers whose parents use more spatial terms (such as triangular, huge, tall, or bent) outperform those whose parents do not use such language on spatial exams.

However, don’t merely talk to your child to teach them spatial terminology. Request that your kid repeat the phrases to you and explain what they mean. Encourage your kid to use these words as well.

Children who can utilize more spatial words do better in spatial recognition tasks. You may assist kids in making connections between spatial interactions and the items around them.

“Does the candy sit inside or outside the glass?”

“Do you believe the toy is beneath or behind the couch?”

“Lily is across the street!”

Teach gestures to children and encourage them to use them to describe spatial relationships.

Hand gestures are an effective means of communicating and educating. Teachers who utilize gestures with children typically learn more effectively than those who use only speech.

Children’s visual-spatial intelligence improves when they utilize gesturing to express the movement of things. This progress is also observed in children’s who do not spontaneously gesture but do so when instructed to do so.

Teach children how to envision using their imaginations.

Visualization is the use of visual images to mentally represent something that is not physically there. It is a very useful skill for spatial learning and problem-solving.

Visualization could be taught to young children to improve their spatial abilities. Young infants, for example, frequently exhibit “gravity bias.” In an experiment, toddlers believe that if a ball falls, it would emerge exactly below, even if the ball falls down a twisted tube. However, when told to envision the route of the ball before replying, more children gave the correct response.

Try out the matching game.

Play the construction matching game​. Begin by constructing a basic construction out of building blocks and then ask the children to match it in form and color. You might even have one child construct the building while another copies it.

Increase the intricacy of the constructions as students grow more comfortable with building and more confident in matching.

In a storytelling setting, play with blocks and construct items.

Playing with construction toys like Lego and wooden blocks may significantly improve a children’s spatial reasoning skills.

But you don’t need toys that are precisely constructed. Even a few cereal boxes or toilet paper rolls could be stacked and utilized to create fascinating constructions.

Provide them with an issue to solve. According to one study, when children engage in block-building activities while listening to a tale, their spatial intelligence increases even more.

Play tangram, non-jigsaw and other open-ended spatial puzzles

Tangrams are ancient Chinese puzzles made up of seven parts. The parts could be reassembled to form a variety of forms, including animals, humans, and objects. It’s a teaching tool that’s been shown to improve students’ spatial abilities.

Many sites propose jigsaw puzzles to assist children’s to improve their spatial intelligence. It’s presumably because research found that children who already play puzzles outperform those that don’t in a mental transformation spatial exercise. It also discovers that the more frequently a child plays, the better he or she performs.

Without a doubt, there is a substantial link between puzzle solving and spatial intelligence. There have, however, been no controlled investigations to demonstrate a causal link between them.

The issue with jigsaw puzzles is that, unlike tangram, there is only one method to put the pieces together. According to one study, toddlers who play with a single-solution puzzle are less inventive and adaptable in later problem solving than children who engage with a multi-solution block building set.

I advocate utilizing multiple-solution spatial reasoning puzzles, such as tangram, over jigsaw puzzles to assist children’s to enhance their visual-spatial abilities until research demonstrates the benefits of single-solution puzzles.

Introduce children to map reading.

Map reading can assist children in developing abstract notions of space as well as the capacity to think logically about spatial relationships that they would not otherwise encounter directly in the real world.

Maps provide geographical information that is distinct from firsthand experience in navigating the environment. Through map reading, children may learn to think about numerous large-scale spatial relationships among distinct locations in a tangible way.

Read spatial-rich books

Picture books like Zoom and Re-Zoom may immerse children’s in a realm of imagery and spatial reasoning. The rising degree of detail aids in illustrating the various spatial relationships between items.

When reading these books with their children, parents may improve their children’s spatial intelligence through vocal explanation and gestures.

Play games that require spatial reasoning, such as Tetris.

Playing video spatial reasoning games like Marble Madness or Tetris has been demonstrated to improve children’s spatial intelligence. The improvement is more evident in children with poor ability.

Allow your child to experiment with photography.

The capacity to envisage how objects would seem from a different viewpoint than one’s own is referred to as visual-spatial perspective-taking.

Taking photographs of objects from various angles can help children’s develop their capacity to see things from multiple viewpoints and detect variations in scale.

Origami and paper folding practise

For a long time, mental paper folding has been utilized to improve mental rotational ability.

Although there has been no research linking physical paper folding to spatial intelligence, it is not unreasonable to think that physical paper folding exercises can improve mental paper folding abilities.

Learn to play the piano.

Learning to produce music has been shown in several studies to improve spatial-temporal skills.

The capacity to think about spatial linkages that vary through time is referred to as spatial-temporal thinking. This ability allows you to mentally pack your baggage one thing at a time to see how much stuff you can fit in.

This differs from the contentious “Mozart Effect” idea, which says that listening to music improves a range of skills, including spatial reasoning.

A meta-analysis of 553 research backs up the notion that music training, rather than music listening, is related to improved spatial intelligence.

More Reading About Spactial Skills

Check out the articles of Nora S. Newcombe, a cognitive development professor who specializes in the development of spatial cognition. Her article, “Picture this: Enhancing math and science learning by improving spatial thinking,” is a non-technical review for teachers.

I also recommend her review “Early education for spatial intelligence: Why, What, and How,” coauthored with Andrea Frick, for the academically minded. This, as well as many other scholarly publications, could be downloaded from Newcombe’s personal website.

If you’re a teacher looking to include spatial learning components into your curriculum, check out Kristin Gagnier and Kelly Fisher’s article. It advises you on how to build “spatially improved lesson plans.”

Finally, take a visit to the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, an outstanding online resource established by experts and affiliated with the National Science Foundation.

​References To Spatial Intelligence

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