At Magrid, we are continually evolving to better reflect the learning experiences our platform provides. That’s why we’re introducing an update across the Magrid learning solution: the term “Visual Spatial Skills” will now be replaced with “Cognitive Skills.”
While spatial reasoning remains an important part of Magrid, our activities support a broader range of mental abilities. With the addition of working memory activities last year, and with the continued expansion of our content, this new terminology better reflects the full set of thinking skills children develop when learning with Magrid. It’s a small change in wording, but an important step in recognising the broader cognitive foundations behind the Magrid experience.
What Do We Mean by Cognitive Skills?
Cognitive skills are the mental processes that allow us to think, learn, remember, and solve problems. They help children interpret information, recognise relationships, process patterns, and make decisions.
These skills form the foundation of learning by enabling children to organise and understand information effectively. Developing cognitive skills helps children approach new challenges, build problem-solving strategies, and make sense of the world around them.
Magrid’s Cognitive Skills
Magrid activities are designed to develop a range of cognitive skills that support early learning and reasoning:
– Visual Perception – the ability to interpret and make sense of visual information. (For example, identifying and matching shapes that share similar characteristics.)
– Mental Rotation – the ability to rotate objects mentally and understand their orientation. (For example, matching a rotated shape to its original form.)
– Hand-Eye Coordination – the ability to use visual information to guide and control hand movements. (For example, tracing a shape or connecting dots with lines.)
– Geometry and Patterns – the ability to recognise and manipulate shapes and repeating sequences. (For example, identifying individual shapes or continuing a pattern of colours.)
– Working Memory – the ability to temporarily hold and use visual information to complete a task. (For example, remembering where an object was after it disappears.)
– Mental Folding – the ability to visualise how shapes can be manipulated and folded while understanding their symmetry. (For example, drawing a line of symmetry to split a shape into two identical halves.)
Together, these skills help children interpret visual information, understand spatial relationships, and develop logical strategies for solving problems.
How Cognitive Skills Support Early Learning
Cognitive skills play a crucial role in early childhood development and form an important foundation for many areas of learning.
Skills such as recognising patterns, understanding spatial relationships, and holding information in working memory help children organise information and approach new problems with confidence. These abilities support early mathematical thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.
Although Magrid is language-free, the cognitive skills it develops also contribute to pre-literacy development. Pattern recognition, visual perception, and working memory are important building blocks for later skills such as reading, writing, and understanding sequences. In addition, mental rotation and mental folding help children develop the spatial awareness needed for letter recognition, enabling them to distinguish between similar letters and recognise them more easily.
By strengthening these foundational cognitive abilities, Magrid helps children develop the mental tools they need for learning across many subjects.
A Small Change That Reflects a Bigger Vision
This terminology update reflects Magrid’s ongoing commitment to continually improving the learning experience for students, parents, and teachers. As our platform grows and new activities are introduced, we want the language we use to accurately represent the wide range of thinking skills children develop through Magrid.
The update is now rolling out across the Magrid learning solution. Availability may vary slightly by region, but you can see the change by updating the Magrid app through your app store.
While the change may appear simple, it represents an important step forward. It reflects the expanding scope of Magrid and our continued commitment to helping children develop the cognitive skills that support confident learning, problem solving and a brighter future.
