Article 12 - Spatial Awareness

An important part of child development is the acquisition of spatial awareness. Spatial awareness and spatial ability in a child is the ability to see and understand the relationships between shapes, spaces, and areas around them. It is an organized brain/body system which enables the child to know where their body is in space and in relation to objects in their world.

Sensory-motor development is the first stage a child goes through as a baby. During this stage they learn about things in their world by using the 5 senses. These 5 senses include sight (eyes), sound (ears), and smell (nose), taste (mouth and tongue) and touch (the whole body). This learning is essential to understand the relationship of cause and effect of actions and object permanence. The integration of this information from the 5 different senses is provided by the vestibular system and the brain, and is essential for the child�s acquisition and understanding of spatial awareness.

Children who have Autism or Asperger�s syndrome may have problems using some or all of their 5 senses. They can also experience difficulty developing or using balance and spatial awareness. Some children can also have sensory integration disorders and may be overwhelmed by the sensory stimuli in their environment.

Movement is such a powerful and effective way to integrate the vestibular system, the 5 senses, body awareness and spatial awareness in the brain and body.

See more information about the brain, vestibular system and the 5 senses in the ALL ABOUT THE BRAIN BODY CONNECTION.

It is essential that the child has this awareness before progressing to the next stage of spatial development, which is called the Preoperational stage of development. During this stage cognitive development is maturing and children can begin to identify groups of things in their world like animals, people, colors or furniture. During this stage, children truly become aware of spatial awareness and can then begin to understand how they relate to moving and playing with other children or objects around them.

The awareness of near and far (distance), depth perception (required for crawling through a tunnel) rate of speed (required for catching a ball) or an awareness of appropriate closeness to others, all becomes established in normally developing children. This Preoperational stage of development is vital for daily activities and functions of the child, such as sitting in a chair, crossing a road, playing games with other children or moving around a room of furniture or other children.

Benefits of spatial awareness

●Is vital for all learning

●Is vital for all simple and complex aspects of daily life.

●Assists in reading and writing skills

●Aids understanding of maths and number concepts.

● Enhances social interactions

●Assists organizing groups and objects

●Understanding of concepts and abstract thoughts

●Creativity

●Visualization

●Enhances physical interactions and ability

●Provides an awareness of the world around them

●Stimulates the sense organs inside the inner ears

● Aids in the communication of the left and right hemispheres in the brain.

●Enhances body awareness

● Assists in the co-ordination of movement and the body.

Those children who are visual thinkers, or can understand mathematical concepts easily or are creative, musical or artistic, tend to have very efficient spatial awareness capabilities as they can use their brain�s visual ability to organize and see abstract concepts and thoughts.

Without spatial awareness children are clumsy and may have problems with their learning or socially e.g. standing too close to another person, bumping into them when lining up, not being able to sit still and concentrate. Without spatial awareness a child would have trouble reading and writing, because they could not see the letters in the order or pattern of words or in relation to each other and to the page.

A lack of spatial awareness can impact greatly on the child, socially, emotionally as well as on the acquisition and performance of physical skills. Sadly it can hold children back from reaching their full potential, which may then also affect their self esteem.