For young children, building blocks are a creative, entertaining way to practice spatial reasoning while using imagination. Big blocks or small blocks are both appropriate, but for a child with poor fine-motor skills, stacking small blocks on top of each other quickly becomes frustrating and counter productive. Large, cardboard stackable blocks enable a child to create an entire structure, while negotiating the spatial measurements inside and outside the fort or castle.
For an older child or adult, tangrams offer a stimulating reverse puzzle. Tangrams originated in ancient China and use seven different geometric shapes to create numerous images. A tangram puzzle begins as an empty outline of an animal or object. The player must fill the outline by arranging the seven geometric shapes in particular order. The difficulty of these puzzles range from 5-year-old children to adults.
Drawing your own map is an advanced spatial reasoning activity that requires a strong sense of spatial acuity and the ability to use a compass. Begin at a certain point and outline a map on a blank geometric grid while traveling with your compass. Compare your map results to a cartographer's map at the end of your excursion. For safety purposes, stay within a populated area, because you don't need to test your survival skills and spatial reasoning skills simultaneously.
Making a box from a flat piece of cardboard is more challenging than it sounds. Begin with a completely flat piece of cardboard without any lines or measurement indicators. Using a completed box as your model, determine where you must score your flat cardboard so the sides bend in the correct places. Mark the necessary points with a pencil and ruler. Score the cardboard with a craft knife before bending and gluing the sides with craft glue.