Raising Tomorrow’s STEM Leaders: The Power of Spatial Skills

What Are Spatial Skills?
Spatial skills help us navigate and understand how things are arranged in the world around us, like finding your car in a parking lot, packing a suitcase for a trip, or figuring out how to arrange furniture in your living room.

Why Do They Matter?
Research shows that early spatial skills build a strong foundation for school readiness and future academic success, including math. These skills also spark a lifelong curiosity about how the world works. Kids with strong spatial skills at a young age are more likely to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), becoming the architects, engineers, and scientists of tomorrow!

What Can You Do About It?

1. Use everyday activities to build spatial skills naturally. You can have your child pack their backpack to fit everything in, cut their birthday cake into equal slices, or help navigate the way home from the playground.
   
2. Let them play with shape sorters, puzzles, and building blocks. You don’t always need store-bought toys though! You can fold origami, make paper airplanes, or sort natural objects by shape. For example, you can make a game of grouping circular rocks and rectangular sticks at the playground.
   
3. Point out real-world shapes, not just perfect ones. Try showing your child the broad triangle of a mountain or the narrow triangle of a cake slice, not just the perfect triangles in books.
   
4. Use spatial language in daily conversations. Try naming shapes around you, like “the triangle roof on that house.” You can also use spatial words when playing, like “put this IN the box” or “place it NEXT TO this one.”
   
5. Help your child understand what makes each shape special. In addition to naming shapes, explore their features too. You might say things like, “Do you see that our TV has 4 sides, 2 short and 2 long?”

By nurturing your child’s spatial skills through these simple tips, you’re not just preparing them for academic success. You’re fostering a lifelong curiosity and confidence to explore and understand the fascinating world around them!