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Children’s Play Preferences, Construction Play with Blocks, and Visual-spatial Skills: Are they Related?

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

Anne McDonald Culp

University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA

Marion O’Brien

University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

Rosemarie T. Truglio

Children’s Television Workshop, New York, USA

Mildred Alvarez

San Jose State University, CA, USA

Aletha C. Huston

University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

Fifty-one preschoolers’ play preferences, skills at assembling block structures, and spatial abilities were recorded in this study. There were no sex differences in children’s visual-spatial skills, and play with art materials and children’s free and structured play with blocks were related to spatial visualisation. Two patterns emerged from the findings: (1) activity and performance representing skills in spatial visualisation and visual-motor coordination; and (2) creativity, or the ability to break set and to produce varied solutions using visual materials. Future research might examine the extent to which children’s play activities and experiences predict these types of skills.

International Journal of Behavioral Development, Vol. 23, No. 4, 855-872 (1999)
DOI: 10.1080/016502599383577


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