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What are visual-spatial and visual-motor skills?
What are visual-spatial and visual-motor skills?
Visual-spatial skills help us understand and navigate the space around us. They help us figure out how to organize visual information, and see how objects fit together or how they might look from different angles. We use visual-spatial skills when we read maps, put together puzzles, or arrange furniture in a room.
Visual-motor skills are the abilities that help us combine what we see with how we move our hands or bodies. For example, when we're copying a shape or writing letters, we're using visual-motor skills. Our eyes see the shape or letters, and our hands use that information to draw or write them correctly.
How do these skills affect our lives?
How do these skills affect our lives?
Visual-spatial and visual-motor skills are important for many everyday tasks and can help with subjects like math and art in school. Here are some ways that visual-spatial and visual-motor skills are used in daily life:
Figuring out how to fit clothes and items in the best way when packing a suitcase.
Judging the space between cars and moving your car into it when parallel parking.
Understanding directions and picturing where you need to go when reading a map.
Rotating shapes in your mind to fit them into spaces when playing games like Tetris.
Imagining how a room will look with different layouts when rearranging furniture.
Remembering landmarks and creating a mental map when finding your way in a new place.
Seeing obstacles to guide movements to avoid bumping into things when navigating spaces.
Matching shapes and picturing how pieces fit together when solving jigsaw puzzles.
Seeing the lines and spaces on the paper, and moving our hands to form letters and words when writing.
Looking at the keyboard and screen, while our fingers move to press the right keys while typing.
Following the lines and controlling the pencil or crayon to stay within those lines when drawing or colouring.
Tracking the ball and moving to catch or kick it accurately when playing sports.
Guiding our hand to use a tool correctly (e.g., fitting a screwdriver into a screw).
What can we do to help develop visual-spatial and visual-motor skills?
What can we do to help develop visual-spatial and visual-motor skills?
Here are some tips to help children and adolescents develop their visual-spatial and visual-motor skills:
Use spatial language:
Describe positions (e.g., on, under, around).
Give directions (e.g., turn right or walk straight ahead).
Compare sizes and shapes (e.g., bigger or smaller, cube or sphere).
Using such terms in everyday conversations can help children build their vocabulary and supports their ability to think spatially.
Read maps:
Helps children understand how 2D images relate to 3D spaces.
Start by using simple maps to get around your home or neighborhood.
Create treasure hunt games with hand-drawn maps.
Discuss routes when planning trips, using both paper maps and digital ones.
Encourage children to create their own maps of familiar places.
Do puzzles:
Puzzles help improve hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness by requiring children to rotate pieces to fit together.
Start with simple puzzles and gradually increase difficulty. Try jigsaw puzzles, tangrams, or 3D puzzles. This activity also helps with problem-solving skills.
Use building toys:
Lego, blocks, or other construction toys help develop fine motor skills and spatial understanding.
Start with larger pieces and simple designs, then progress to more complex builds.
This also encourages creativity and planning skills.
Practice handwriting, drawing & sketching:
Regular practice can boost visual spatial skills.
Start with tracing letters or 2D or 3D shapes, then move to copying them.
Use different writing tools like pencils, crayons, or markers.
Make it fun by drawing favorite characters or writing stories.
Play ball games and videogames:
Catching, throwing, and bouncing balls help develop visual tracking and motor coordination.
Start with larger, softer balls and move to smaller ones as skills improve.
Play catch, basketball, or tennis depending on the child's interest and ability.
Allow time for videogames in moderation as these also help with hand-eye coordination.
Do threading activities:
Activities like beading or lacing cards improve fine motor skills and visual perception. Start with larger beads or holes, then move to smaller ones.
Make necklaces, bracelets, or follow patterns on lacing cards.
Engage in arts and crafts:
Activities like cutting, pasting, and colouring help refine visual motor skills.
Start with simple projects and gradually increase complexity.
Try making collages, origami, or painting. This also allows for creative expression.
Cook and bake:
Let kids help with cooking tasks like mixing, pouring, or kneading dough.
Cooking involves a lot of hand-eye coordination and following visual cues.
What are some signs of visual-spatial and/or visual-motor difficulties?
What are some signs of visual-spatial and/or visual-motor difficulties?
When children have trouble with visual-spatial and/or visual-motor skills, they might find some activities harder than others. This can affect them at home, at school, and during play. Some things to look out for that may mean your child is having trouble with these skills are:
Trouble following the pictures in a how-to manual
Trouble copying information from a blackboard
Understanding how parts fit together to make a whole
Knowing left from right
Difficulty understanding charts and graphs
Planning the best way to arrange clothes and items in a suitcase
Estimating the distances or gaps between objects
Looking at maps and navigating a route
Figuring out how furniture might fit in a room or items in a desk or locker
Forming letters properly and using the correct spacing between letters
Understanding and using sequencing terms properly like first, second or then
Noticing visual details (e.g., how geometric shapes are arranged in a design)
How can we support with visual-spatial/visual-motor difficulties?
How can we support with visual-spatial/visual-motor difficulties?
To help those with visual-spatial and/or visual-motor difficulties, try the following strategies:
Pair visual information with verbal material:
Provide verbal supports (e.g., when setting the table, say, "put the knife on the right" while showing where it goes).
Encourage students to talk themselves (verbal mediation) through visual or spatial work.
Use the student's strengths to support learning, like explaining an assignment verbally in addition to demonstrating it.
Break down complex tasks into smaller parts:
For a puzzle, start with edge pieces only.
When learning to tie shoelaces, practice one loop at a time.
Teach left-to-right writing:
Use a green dot on the left side of the page and a red dot on the right.
Practice tracing arrows from left to right.
Use numbered lines to show writing direction.
Play games that help show left-to-right movement, like simple mazes.
Provide structure and time:
Use organizers like numbered boxes or colour codes (e.g., mark the left shoe with red and the right shoe with blue or use different coloured folders for different school subjects).
Provide graph paper and lined paper for use when completing math exercises.
Provide additional structure on worksheets and assignments.
Allow extra time for proofreading when written work or other visual-spatial/visual-motor work is required.
Reduce the amount of visual clutter:
Keep only necessary items on desks, including a list (or pictures) of what materials are needed for each subject.
Use desk organizers with labeled compartments and encourage students to take a few minutes at the end of the day to organize their desks.
Use hands-on learning:
Practice making shapes with play dough.
Learn fractions by cutting real food items such as a pizza or an apple.
Use cookie cutters to help learn shapes.
Teach visualisation techniques:
Before writing, ask child to "picture" the story in their mind (e.g., where does the story take place?).
When getting dressed, have them imagine each step before doing it (e.g., "First, I put on my shirt, then my pants...").
Develop routines:
Routines help move children from activity to activity by keeping things consistent.
For example, keep their water bottles in the same location in the classroom or use picture charts for daily tasks like brushing teeth.
Resources
Visual-Spatial.pdfVisual-Spatial Skills Handout
Visual-Motor.pdfVisual-Motor Skills Handout
References:
References:
Blades, M., & Spencer, C. (2011). The use of maps by 4-6-year-old children in a large-scale maze. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 5(1), 19–24.
Bokhove, C., & Redhead, E. (2022). Training mental rotation skills by building houses to improve spatial ability. Southampton,United Kingdom: University of Southampton.
Buckley, J., Seery, N., and Canty, D. (2018). A heuristic framework of spatial ability: a review and synthesis of spatial factor literature to support its translation into STEM education. Educ. Psychol. Rev. 30, 947–972.
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. Cognition and Instruction, 26(3), 269–309.
Franceschini, S., Bertoni, S., Puccio, G. et al. Visuo-spatial attention deficit in children with reading difficulties. Sci Rep 12, 13930 (2022)
Gersmehl, P. J., & Gersmehl, C. A. (2007). Spatial thinking by young children: neurologic evidence for early development and “educability. Journal of Geography, 106(5), 186–191.
Hodgkiss A, Gilligan-Lee KA, Thomas MSC, Tolmie AK, Farran EK. The developmental trajectories of spatial skills in middle childhood. Br J Dev Psychol. 2021 Nov;39(4):566-583.
Vander Heyden, K. M., Huizinga, M., & Jolles, J. (2017). Effects of a classroom intervention with spatial play materials on children’s object and viewer transformation abilities. Developmental Psychology, 53(2), 290–305.
Yang W, Liu H, Chen N, Xu P, Lin X. Is Early Spatial Skills Training Effective? A Meta-Analysis. Front Psychol. 2020 Aug 27;11:1938.
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