FROM THE FIELD
MAKING
MENTAL
MAPS
APARNA DATEY
What do building blocks, legos, jenga, battleship, Chinese checkers,
tangrams and video games have in common? All are games that not
only develop motor and sensory skills amongst very young kids they
also enhance spatial thinking ability.
What is spatial ability? It is a unique intelligence (like visual, logical,
verbal or reasoning ability) that enables understanding of
relationships between objects and their spatial location in relation to
other objects. It is the ability to create mental maps, representations
and images that is useful for innovative thinking in any career
(Architecture, Computer graphics, Data visualization, Economic
forecasting, Engineering, Mathematics, Meteorology, Natural
Sciences and Imaging, and Supercomputing).
The way we navigate and manipulate the space around us, whether
via everyday activities such as putting together a piece of furniture
from drawings, packing a suitcase for a week long vacation, reading
a map while sightseeing in a new city or more specific activities
such as designing a building is crucial to problem solving. It
develops analysis and critical