2.5 - Visual Spatial Relationships: When Kids Can’t Tell Where Things Are

Is your child constantly misaligning math problems, reversing letters, or bumping into desks? The issue may not be clumsiness—it could be a visual spatial relationship problem.

Imagine trying to build a Lego model without knowing where each piece goes, is it on top or next to the last piece?. That’s what life can feel like with visual spatial relationship difficulties—the brain sees the parts, but struggles to understand how they fit together.

In this post, you’ll learn what visual spatial relationships are, how they impact everyday tasks like reading, handwriting, math, and movement—and what you can do to help kids navigate their visual world with more accuracy and confidence.

What Are Visual Spatial Relationship Skills?

Visual spatial relationships refer to your brain’s ability to understand how objects relate to each other in space. This includes size, distance, direction, position, and orientation. It helps you recognize left from right, keep letters the right way round, space your writing, and navigate your surroundings.

When this skill is weak, kids often misplace, misjudge, or reverse things—even when they can “see” them perfectly.

Red Flags: How Spatial Issues Show Up in Real Life

• Reverses letters (b/d, p/q) or numbers (6/9)

• Struggles with handwriting spacing and line placement

• Poor alignment of columns in math

• Difficulty understanding maps, directions, or geometry

• Often confused by left vs. right

• Clumsy or bumping into objects

• Has trouble with puzzles, Legos, or building tasks

• Poor coordination in sports or P.E.

Research published in the journal Child Neuropsychology found that visual spatial skills in early childhood strongly predict math performance by age 10.

Why It Happens

Spatial reasoning is a higher-level processing skill—it’s not about eyesight, but about how the brain organizes what the eyes see in relation to the body and environment. When development in this area is delayed or disrupted, it can affect both academic and motor skills. Common causes include:

• Visual processing delays

• Underdeveloped visual-motor integration

• Nonverbal learning disabilities

• Sensory integration issues

• Neurological or developmental conditions

Important: These kids may test “normal” in reading or vision—but still struggle silently with everyday spatial tasks.

How to Strengthen Visual Spatial Relationship Skills

1. Use Spatial Language Often - Say things like “above,” “next to,” “under,” “between” during play and daily tasks to help children build internal spatial maps.

2. Practice with Building Toys - Blocks, tangrams, Legos, and magnetic shapes are excellent tools to reinforce how objects fit and relate in space.

3. Try Dot-to-Dot, Mazes, and Hidden Pictures - These visual puzzles challenge children to notice patterns, direction, and spacing in a fun, low-pressure way.

4. Play Left/Right and Direction Games - Simon Says with “left hand” or “turn right” instructions helps reinforce spatial language and body awareness.

5. Do Movement-Based Activities - Obstacle courses, jump rope, catching/throwing games, and dance routines all build spatial awareness through motion.

6. Incorporate Handwriting Aids - Use highlighted lines, lined paper with boxes, or spacing guides to help keep letters and numbers correctly aligned.

7. Seek Help from an OT or Vision Therapist - Professionals can assess and support spatial deficits with targeted exercises, especially when combined with visual-motor training.

Why It’s Often Overlooked

Kids with spatial issues are often labeled as sloppy, disorganized, or uncoordinated—when in reality, they’re struggling to form mental models of their environment. Since this isn’t typically tested in vision screenings or reading assessments, it frequently gets missed.

Quote to Remember

Final Thoughts

Visual spatial relationship difficulties don’t just impact academics—they affect movement, independence, and confidence. But they’re also highly responsive to the right kinds of play, movement, and therapy. When you help kids find their place in space, everything else starts falling into place too.