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May 2005
Spatial Intelligence, to the MAX!
Mrs. Donna - North Canton
 While roaming the grocery aisles in my mind, I pictured the cart gliding through the store as I mentally checked my grocery list – a quick trip, even with two children. I wasn't thinking about which way I was actually driving to the store, when an eight-year-old's contemplative voice drifted forward from the back seat. "Mom, when kids get to be teenagers and start to drive, how do they know which roads to take to get where they're going?"
My mind's eye stumbled out of the grocery store and into the rear-view mirror. How do they? "Well, I guess by that time, you've been riding around in the back seat long enough that you just....remember. So, pay attention," I laughed. "You only have eight more years to figure it out." Dakota then asked, “How do people get to places they've never been before?” We talked about reading a map....starting from a point you recognize and can picture, and then heading in the direction the map says the road leads. After all, we have to start somewhere.
Funny. At that time, it didn’t occur to me that my son was in fact asking about Spatial Intelligence, the ability / skill to visualize surroundings and locate one’s self in those surroundings, to create and think in images. Starting at birth, our little ones learn about the space around them. A newborn focuses clearly at a distance of 10-13 inches from his face, about the distance from the baby's face to the mother's as she cradles him in her arms.... AMAZING! What a perfect design! By ten months, a baby can focus on an entire room. By age three (sometimes younger) children can typically retrace a route, as landmarks play a central part in helping children “find” their way around. 1
Yet spatial intelligence goes beyond just the ability to visualize, but also includes the ability to locate one’s self in those surroundings - using, organizing, and moving through time and space. Gymnasts, dancers, artists, architects, chess players, quarterbacks, and carpenters are individuals who have highly developed spatial intelligence. Sensory-motor understanding of space, which emerges during infancy, develops our capacity for mental imagery, an important component of spatial intelligence. 2
WeJoySing’s music and movement based curriculum joyfully engages your child in activities that enhance spatial Intelligence and encourages creative use of space. Activities such as:
- Simple Circle games - Ring Around the Rosy - circle formation, standing up, falling down.
- Movement Exploration - Old Betty Larkin - running through the room without bumping.
- Simple Songs – It’s Raining It’s Pouring - the striker in the bag, the triangle in the basket.
- Bounce – Hickory Dickory Dare - lifting baby uuuup, bringing baby doooown.
So, the next time you arrive at your WeJoySing location and your three-year-old squeals, “Mrs. Donna (insert your beloved WeJoySing teacher’s name) lives here!” Go ahead and giggle, then blow your child a kiss for recognizing this place! Also, kiss your brain! You knew just the way to go to get to WeJoySing. That’s Spatial Intelligence, TO THE MAX!
Music Note from Mrs. Jo:
I hope you will enjoy this series on Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences which promotes that humans possess a portfolio of seven different intelligences rather than various degrees of one general intelligence. We will aim to give you insight on the impact music can have on the development of these intelligences. As one of our WeJoySing Instructor’s once said, “Everything we do has a purpose.” And now you know “the rest of the spatial intelligence story.”
"Sing"cerely,
Mrs. Jo
1. Gardner, Howard, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, tenth anniversary edition. New York: Basic Books, 1993, p. 178.
2. -------, p 180.
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