How to teach your child to navigate in space

All parents know that it is necessary to develop a child from childhood. Moms and dads hear about early development techniques, art circles, sports sections, preparation for school and much more. But few people pay due attention to the spatial development of the child. This is an important skill for understanding the world. Such simple concepts as “right – left”, “up – down”, “front – back” are necessary for us to live, study and work. Today we are talking about the spatial development of children and how to do it in the game.

Why should you teach your child to navigate in space?

Thanks to spatial thinking, a child can invent and collect with the help of a designer three-dimensional models of cars, houses, pyramids, distinguish geometric shapes, find the shortest way to the playground and much more. In the future, this skill will be useful to him in art circles, in sports, dancing, for easy mastering of exact sciences, as well as in teaching reading and writing.

Summarizing all the above, it can be noted that a person who is well oriented in space is easier to cope not only with household tasks, but also find a way out of difficult situations in life.

What games to use for spatial development of the child

It is better to teach the child to navigate in space on real household examples. This can be done through games and simple everyday tasks.

For example:

• search for differences and similarities;
• construction from the constructor;
• search for objects with clues in the direction of movement (cold, warm, hot);
• sports warm-up: jumps on the left / right leg, exercises with hands, finger gymnastics;
• homemade maps on which you need to find an object in the house;
• graphic dictations, when you need to draw a figure in a notebook in a cell by ear, etc.

As for everyday tasks, you can ask the baby to submit objects that are on the right or left of him, periodically look up to see something interesting there, etc.

We should not forget about creativity. Drawing and sculpting are excellent assistants in order to teach the baby to navigate in space. Since it is in creative activity that various sense organs are used as much as possible and the child learns skills based on sensory experience.

With older children to develop orientation in space, you can play checkers, chess, solve logical and mathematical problems, puzzles.

Strategy of spatial development of the child by age

Before starting classes, it is important to consider how a child at a certain age learns information about the world around him. For example, at the age of three, children learn space with the help of the senses, and at the age of five they are able to turn on the brain and solve rather complex spatial problems.

What to play with children 3-5 years

By the age of three, the child is already able to move objects from smaller to larger and vice versa, to collect a large figure from small details.

You'll need it.

• Coloring books, where the main rule should be that the child does not go beyond the outline of the picture.
• Games with figures of different sizes that can be arranged, both from smaller to larger, and vice versa.
• Puzzles (for children 3 years old, choose with large details).
• Sheets of paper, markers and a ruler to draw dots. For example, a parent draws a sample on one sheet, and on the other dots that the child must connect to make a picture.
• Tablet or phone with applications with logic games. For example, where there are tasks with figures (what will look like a triangle behind a circle, a cube on a pyramid).

Games for the spatial development of a child in 6-8 years

At this age, children’s brains are ready for in-depth acquaintance with shapes and sizes, because basic knowledge on the topic of spatial orientation has already been mastered. ¶

How to improve the orientation of the child in space:

• Writing graphic dictations. You'll need a pen and a notebook in a cage. The adult dictates the direction and the children draw (for example, three cells to the right, two up, four to the left).
• Draw your maps of the area. You can ask the child to draw a map of the road to school, so that he draws in detail from memory all the objects and details that occur on the way.
• Play mazes in pictures where you need to find a way out or build a safe/short path from point A to point B.

Development of spatial thinking in children 9-10 years

By this age, children have almost formed spatial thinking, but it is better to continue classes. Usually this is done by teachers in schools in drawing, mathematics, labor, man and the world.

At home, you can use exercises in parallel:

• Play chess together. This is the best game that teaches you to think a few steps ahead. In the process, the child needs to select options for various combinations, steps, while not touching the figures on the board, and then only make a move.
• Applications that help develop orientation and spatial thinking. For example, Pythagoria, which helps improve skills in geometry by building different shapes. The application has more than 350 levels of varying complexity, where a large number of topics are touched upon, thanks to which the child learns to think outside the box.
• To create Palaces of Memory. It is an imaginary space with static objects, the creation of which helps to develop memory and spatial thinking. Just close your eyes and imagine your bedroom. If it turned out, then you can now create your own Palace and walk around it, mentally moving from one object to another.