19 Characteristics of a Visual-Spatial Learner

Sarah Major, M.Ed. is passionate about working in harmony with a child's immaculate design to support their learning strengths. As a Title 1 Program Director and Designer, Sarah earned awards for creating her own multisensory educational resources that have now been sold in all 50 states and over 150 countries. By design, Sarah’s approach targets multiple pathways to the brain, empowering visual-spatial learners to hone their natural strengths, leading to success and a love for learning.  

As a parent, you naturally want to provide the best learning experience for your child. You’ve doubtless heard a lot about the various learning styles and how they might impact how your child learns, but you also might wonder how much of it is relevant to your situation. 

If your child is sailing through learning reading and math, likely not much of the learning styles discussion would impact you and your family. 

However, if your child is struggling with reading and/or math, looking at learning styles will be important. In specific, visual-spatial learners tend to face learning difficulties because traditional curricula are designed for a different type of learner. Try a sample of SnapWords® and see if your child responds to a more visual approach.

Here are some questions to consider in determining whether or not your child learns most naturally through visual-spatial methods. 

Is your child a visual-spatial learner?

1. Do they seem to intuit and care about what others are feeling?

2. Do they seem to forget what you tell them verbally?

3. Do they seem to recall well what they see? 

4. Do they frequently lose track of time?

5. Do they seem talented in art, music, dance, or drama?

6. Do they seem disorganized?

7. Do they have trouble with spelling?

8. Do they have trouble remembering phonics rules?

9. Do they seem to remember how to get places they've only been to one time?

10. Do they like to construct things?

11. Do they like to figure out how things work (taking them apart?)

12. Can they visualize objects from different perspectives? (This one might be hard to know unless you ask specifically.)

13. Do they frequently visualize things? Example: See one thing and say, “Oh, that looks like a _____________” ?

14. Do they start laughing during a conversation because a combination of words gave them funny mental picture? 

15. Do they seem to know things without being able to tell you why or how? Can they solve a problem without being able to tell the steps they took to get to the solution?

16. Are they good at puzzles or mazes?

17. Do they solve problems in unusual ways? In other words, once you tell them what the goal is, do they arrive at that goal in unexpected ways?

18. Do they have a vivid imagination?

19. Do they have at least one parent that would answer “yes” to many of the questions above?

If many of these questions remind you of your child, most likely they are a visual-spatial learner.  

I believe my child is a visual-spatial learner, now what?

The bottom line? For every concept you are working on, let them illustrate it for themselves. If it is sight words they need to learn, please don’t just drill them with flashcards! Give them time to write each word on a card and illustrate it. Child1st has also created many resources to meet the needs of visual-spatial learners. One of our favorites for parents who want to give their children that extra boost in reading and confidence is the SnapWords® 306 Teaching Cards Kit.

If you have a visual-spatial learner, enjoy! As long as they have the opportunity to use their best learning tools, what you will have is a happy, creative, amazing child!