• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Happy Tot Shelf

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Find an Activity
  • Activity Membership
  • Learning Space
  • Free Printables
  • About HTS
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Find an Activity
    • Activity Membership
    • Learning Space
    • Free Printables
    • About HTS
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Math Activities

    Published: Jun 18, 2023 · Modified: Jul 16, 2023 by Navi Riar · All activities should be supervised by an adult. This post may contain affiliate links.

    Enhance Your Child's Spatial Reasoning Skills with Fun Games and Activities

    Inside: Let’s understand what Spatial Reasoning is and how we can help children develop spatial reasoning skills through fun games and activities!

    Spatial reasoning is an important cognitive skill that helps us understand and manipulate shapes, sizes, positions, and orientations of objects. It's useful for puzzles, maps, and everyday tasks like packing efficiently. In this article, we'll explore spatial reasoning, its benefits, and how it can be developed. We'll also share fun games and activities to enhance your child's spatial reasoning skills, making math more enjoyable for them. Let's dive in and discover the exciting world of spatial reasoning!

    Jump to:
    • What is Spatial Reasoning?
    • When do we use Spatial Reasoning Skills?
    • Weak VS Strong Spatial Reasoning Skills
    • Spatial Reasoning Games and Activities
    • Common Questions about Spatial Reasoning
    • Try these fun Spatial Reasoning Games!
    • More math activities and games

    What is Spatial Reasoning?

    Spatial reasoning is a higher level cognitive process that involves visualizing and mentally manipulating shapes, sizes, positions, and orientations of objects. These skills allow us to mentally rotate objects, understand how they fit together, and visualize their movements or transformations.

    When do we use Spatial Reasoning Skills?

    When you try to assemble a puzzle, you use spatial reasoning to understand the shapes of the puzzle pieces, visualize how they fit together, and mentally rotate them to find the correct arrangement. Similarly, when reading a map or giving someone directions, you use spatial reasoning to understand the relationships between landmarks and visualize the routes. 

    Spatial reasoning is crucial in various fields, including mathematics, engineering, architecture, design, and even everyday tasks like packing a suitcase efficiently.

    Weak VS Strong Spatial Reasoning Skills

    A child with weak spatial reasoning skills might struggle with figuring out how the pieces of a puzzle fit together. They might find it difficult to read a simple map or have trouble with reproducing a block structure from memory.

    A child with strong spatial reasoning skills can easily visualize rotations and reflections of different shapes. They are good at planning and executing a structure made of blocks or can read maps with ease.

    Spatial Reasoning Games and Activities

    Try these simple activities at home with your child to strengthen their spatial reasoning skills.

    Activity 1: Build and Match 

    Build and Match is a fun spatial reasoning game for children.

    Build a cube out of linking cubes and draw each of the 6 faces on an index card. Place one of the cards in front of your child and have them rotate the cube until it matches the orientation of the card.

    Activity 2: Map it Out 

    Working out a map of your child's room is a great spatial reasoning activity that enhances their early math skills.

    Work together to make a map of your child’s room. Leave a small treat for your child in their room, mark it on the map, and then have them use the map to find it.

    Activity 3: Face It 

    Household items like a toilet roll can be used for this spatial reasoning activity. Draw it from various angles.

    Grab a few household items like a roll of toilet paper, book, or cereal box. Have your child look at the object from different angles and then draw each face. This helps your child grasp the concept of how an object’s appearance can vary based on the viewing angle.

    Activity 4: Turn the Dice 

    Use a dice for a spatial reasoning acitivity.

    Divide a sheet of paper into four columns and 6 rows. Pick a face on the dice and draw it in the first square. Next, rotate the dice 90 degrees clockwise and have your child draw the face again. Continue this two more times. See if they can notice when the face stays the same or when it looks different.

    Activity 5: Make Your Puzzle 

    Make your own puzzle!

    Have your child decorate a sheet of cardstock. Next, help them draw puzzle pieces onto the decorated cardstock. Cut it out and give it to a family member to complete.

    Related: Make this watermelon puzzle and learn fractions at the same time!

    Common Questions about Spatial Reasoning

    What is an example of spatial reasoning skills?

    An example of spatial reasoning skills is the ability to mentally rotate objects. For instance, if you are given an image of an object and asked to imagine how it would look if it were rotated by a certain angle, you would be using spatial reasoning skills.

    What does it mean to be good at spatial reasoning?

    Individuals with strong spatial reasoning can easily visualize and manipulate objects in space, solve puzzles, and excel in fields like math, engineering, and design.

    How do you help your child develop spatial reasoning?

    Try the fun spatial reasoning games and activities in this article. You can also encourage your child to build structures with blocks. For older children, teach them how to read a map and navigate direction. 

    Try these fun Spatial Reasoning Games!

    These simple, low-prep spatial reasoning games and activities truly allow your child to experience mathematical thinking in a way that promotes their cognitive abilities to understand, analyze, and manipulate mathematical concepts in a visual and intuitive way.

    As an educator, I’ve found that many children enjoy these spatial reasoning games and find them fun so make sure you give them a try with your child.

    More math activities and games

    Start early and develop your child's early math skills by developing a strong number sense and teach them to subitise.

    Interested in more fun and easy activities to teach counting? Check out these popular printables - Haircut Number Game and Pizza Shape and Counting Activity.

    Happy learning at home!

    More Math Activities for Kids

    • Counting Flowers Activity for Preschoolers
    • Snail Shapes printable activity for children to learn early math
      Snail Shapes Cut and Match Activity
    • uno card games and activities for children to learn math
      Fun Learning Math Activities with Uno Cards
    • math cardinality examples and activities for preschoolers
      Cardinality Examples and Activities for Preschoolers

    Sharing is caring!

    65 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet

    About Navi Riar

    Navi Riar is a credentialed Math Educator with sixteen years of classroom experience. She is the founder of Ready Set Learn and runs math coaching programs in local schools. Navi is passionate about making math accessible for all children using a hands-on approach and shares best practices to empower families to help their children with math. You can find her on Instagram at @mathteachermomblog

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi there! I’m Fynn—educator, author, and mom of three. I believe a lifelong love of learning starts at home, and I’m here to help you nurture that spark. Together, let’s create joyful learning experiences that strengthen bonds and inspire curiosity for both you and your little ones!

    More about me →

    Fall Activities for Kids

    • Fun fall theme preschool activities for kids
      10 Fun & Easy Fall Theme Preschool Activities 
    • 10 simple leaf activities for 2 to 5 year old kids
      Leaf Activities for 2 to 5 Year Olds
    • Learning shelf with farm theme activities for children
      15+ Delightful Farm Theme Preschool Activities
    • Halloween ghost theme color matching activity for toddlers
      15+ Halloween Activities for Preschoolers

    Popular Posts

    • Fun number activities for kids
      10 Low Prep Number Activities for Preschoolers to Play at Home 
    • Haircut Number Game - A fun counting and cutting activity for preschoolers
      Haircut Number Game - A fun counting and cutting activity for preschoolers
    • A collage of Singapore theme learning activities for children
      9 Fun Printable Activities for Kids to Learn about Singapore
    • Easy printable phonics activities for preschoolers
      Learn to Read Part 1: Hands-On Phonics Activities for Preschoolers 

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Fynn
    • Meet the HTS Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of Use

    Resources

    • Activity Index
    • Activity Membership
    • Free Printable
    • Learning Space Course

    Buy my books

    • Sibling Activity Book
    • Happy Learning Math Books

    Copyright © 2023 Happy Tot Shelf

    65 shares