Research School Network: Supporting spatial reasoning: making the most of the outdoors The importance of outdoor experiences for developing young children’s spatial reasoning.

The scene is a bustling nursery garden. Luana is pulling Amaya around in a wooden wagon and has gotten stuck trying to navigate her way through a series of tyres and cones set out for the children to ride their balance bikes around.

Luana stops and pauses. She sets the wagon down and sighs audibly. I want to sensitively follow Luana’s lead, to share attention with her in this moment and respond thoughtfully so I can provide the right amount of scaffolding for this tricky problem she has encountered. I notice Luana’s frustration and dejection as she frowns and places both hands in her coat pockets. She looks up at me and gestures at the wagon:

L: ​“It’s heavy…it’s so tricky.”
To support Luana and Amaya to solve their problem, I talk aloud to model my thinking. I expand on what she says, adding more words and ideas to promote conversation.
F: ​“Yes, the wooden wagon is heavy, I can see your wagon is stuck between the tyre and the cone.”
Amaya starts to shout ​“Help! Help, it’s not going…Fliss..Fliss move it it’s stuck.”
L: ​“It’s too…too little.” Luana uses her hands to demonstrate.
F: ​“The space is too narrow for you to pull the wagon through.”
Amaya gets out of the wagon and tries hard to move it by pushing it from the back. ​“Arrgh, I want to move it.”
Luana takes the opportunity to push the wagon from the front, she notices that it is easier to manoeuvre now Amaya has gotten out: ​“Ohh I can push it.”
F: ​“Now Amaya has gotten out of the wagon, it is easier for you to move it. The wagon is lighter.”
Luana starts to shift the wagon slightly from side to side, pushing it back away from the tyre and cone. From this angle she realises that she needs to move the obstacles to increase the space for the wagon to fit through. Luana tries to move the tyre.
L: ​“Oh help, I can’t do it.”
A: ​“I am strong!”
F: ​“The tyre is difficult to move by yourself, let’s all try together. Now we have made the space between the cone and tyre wider. I think you will be able to fit your wagon through the space now.”
Amaya gets back in and Luana continues to pull the wagon. As they approach some more obstacles, Luana tells Amaya to get out: ​“You have to get out, ​‘member?”
Luana and Amaya spend over 30 minutes looping around the garden navigating the obstacles. Luana deliberately looks around, checking and judging the space. Amaya spurs her on, pointing out when she approaches a tight spot. Luana decides to change direction, reversing her course, this leads her to a different challenge where she has to negotiate a large log!

Early mathematics is incredibly important for children’s development. Positive early experiences and achievement in mathematics lay the foundations for future learning: research evidence highlights that children’s early maths understanding is the strongest predictor of later school achievement and success in entering the workforce. An often overlooked, yet crucially important area of mathematical development is spatial reasoning. There is an increasing body of research that suggests spatial reasoning is foundational for all mathematics; children with strong spatial reasoning skills become more confident and successful mathematical learners:

Spatial reasoning is essential for mathematical development and our everyday lives. We use spatial skills when we get dressed, pack a bag, read a map, and figure out how to build flat-pack furniture. It is key for problem-solving.

The Early Childhood Maths Group explain what spatial reasoning involves:

Importantly, spatial reasoning helps us to make sense of numerical relationships and symbols that are represented spatially such as number lines. For example, to understand mathematical concepts such as place value, children need to be able to distinguish between left and right.

It is essential to give young children time, space and freedom to explore the world physically and encounter challenges. As children’s physical skills develop, so do their spatial abilities. Crawling, cruising and walking are ways young children develop an awareness of space. As they figure out how to move from one area to another, they negotiate obstacles. As children get older, they need opportunities to run, roll, jump, crawl and hide. They need to experience different heights so that they can begin to learn about different perspectives. Children benefit from an abundance of rich, varied, stimulating experiences outdoors in which educators deliberately focus on developing their spatial reasoning skills. Thoughtful arrangement of equipment to encourage opportunities to create paths and routes around the environment supports children’s navigation skills. Educators can intentionally support this by encouraging children to plan an obstacle course. Involving children in this process is a meaningful way for children to explore with their whole bodies, scaffolded by purposeful use of spatial language. The role of the educator is vital for learning spatial language. Research shows that using gestures helps children learn spatial words. When educators use precise language and provide meaningful explanations through back-and-forth conversations it enables children to develop a deep knowledge and understanding of these mathematical concepts. Providing a running commentary while children complete an obstacle course, climb, ride balance bikes and use wheeled toys helps them to begin to establish an understanding of position and spatial directions.

Children need rich, stimulating playful experiences that connect purposefully to their interests and everyday lives. They need sensitive, responsive adults who will support their thinking and learning both spontaneously and in carefully planned intentional ways. All children can be powerful maths learners. We have a responsibility to ensure that our early years settings are places that help children to develop their understanding of mathematical concepts. Let’s use and enhance the physical environment for spatial learning – we must ensure that we don’t forget the power of the outdoors, where ​‘hands off’ or supervisory approaches could potentially result in missed opportunities to meaningfully teach spatial reasoning.

Explore the Early Childhood Maths Group Spatial Reasoning Toolkit to learn more about how to support all aspects of this crucial and often neglected aspect of mathematics.

Learn more about the ShREC Approach and how to use the four evidence-informed strategies to engage children in sustained, responsive back and forth conversations.