Spatial Awareness and Simple Blocks!

Spatial awareness is being aware of the position of our own body in relation to our environment around us.  This is a fundamental skill to develop before we can then understand how other objects, shapes, other people, letters and words relate to each other and to ourselves.

Spatial awareness is important for both the development of gross motor and fine motor skills.  It is linked to our visual perceptual skills as we often use our eyes to judge the distance between ourselves and objects or others.  

Development of spatial awareness is gradual and can be observed through childhood experiences:

• A baby will learn spatial awareness as they roll, bat at things with their hand, begin to grasp objects, crawl, pull to stand, walk, etc.
  
• A toddler will continue to develop spatial awareness as they feed themselves, release toys into containers, build and knock over towers of blocks, care for a doll, navigate stairs, sing nursery rhymes with actions, etc.
  
• A preschooler will develop spatial awareness as they kick or catch a ball, control scissors and paper in cutting, thread beads,  draw with crayons, drive a toy car on a road map, dress themselves, etc

As children develop spatial awareness, movement and control of their body becomes more precise.  They can "label" their movements with language (eg. under, over, next to) and have a better understanding of distance and direction.

School-age children may demonstrate difficulty with spatial awareness in a number of ways.

• They may bump into other children and appear clumsy.
  
• They may have difficulty with eye-hand coordination needed for sports.
• They may have difficulty with mathematics reproducing patterns, sequences or shapes.
• They may have difficulty with handwriting legibility (letter formation, writing on lines, spacing).

Occupational Therapists can work with children of all ages who are experiencing difficulty with spatial awareness. They may use a variety of activities depending on the child's age, goals and/or disability or diagnosis.

Here are some activities I have been doing with some of the school-age kids {Kindy and Yr 1} I have been seeing, who have been experiencing difficulty with spatial awareness and handwriting... using simple small blocks.

1. Block pattern copying - OT creates simple block pattern and student builds a copy using their blocks.  To make it easier I provide the child with the coloured blocks they need.  To make it more difficult, I ask the student to close their eyes whilst I'm building so they can not see the process.

2. Block pattern copying from picture - OT draws on a whiteboard the block pattern or has a printed pattern sheet.  Student builds block pattern from the picture.  To make this more difficult, I place the model on the desk horizontally rather than vertically as seen in these photos. To make this easier, the students can place the blocks directly on the pattern sheet covering the matching box. 

3. Block pattern drawing - OT builds a block pattern and student draws it by colouring a grid. To make this easier, the paper could be placed on a vertical surface next to the blocks.

Whilst these activities seem simple, for children struggling with spatial awareness...they can be difficult.  You may need to help students to notice what coloured blocks are "next to", "on top", "between" or "below" others. 

Some children will have difficulty when things are presented in a different orientation to where it is reproduced. These children may have difficulty copying from a whiteboard onto paper in front of them.

Do you have a set of blocks in your therapy bag?  

What is your "go to" activity for working on spatial awareness?

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