Preschool AR tool boosts spatial awareness
Preschool classrooms in the United States have become the testing ground for an ambitious research initiative that is using augmented reality to develop spatial awareness among three- and four-year-old children. Pupils have been seen pointing their iPads at familiar corners of their classrooms, watching animated figures spring to life while instructions encouraged them to feed apples to animals hidden behind haystacks or locate carnival rides placed between balloons. What appeared to the children as simple games was, in reality, a structured experiment designed to build the foundations of mathematical learning.
The project, carried out by the nonprofit Education Development Centre in collaboration with the WGBH Education Foundation and Digital Promise, aims to address an often overlooked aspect of early childhood education. Spatial thinking, a critical skill linked to later success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, is rarely prioritised in preschool curricula. The initiative’s developers created interactive digital tasks that merged playfulness with academic purpose, ensuring that young learners were fully engaged as they absorbed key concepts of position and relation.
Teachers involved in the trial, including those in New York and Massachusetts, reported that the approach filled a significant gap. Traditional lessons on mathematics have largely revolved around shapes, numbers and basic counting, leaving spatial concepts such as “behind,” “between,” or “around” in the background. One teacher, now instructing older students, noted that she had long found spatial awareness difficult to integrate into her previous classroom routines.
The new programme, which unfolds over an eight-week period, combines augmented reality games with read-aloud sessions and physical activities. A digital guide named Gracie leads the children through maps and mazes, encouraging exploration both on screen and within the physical classroom. Developers ensured that lessons were not limited to passive observation but incorporated movement, story-based learning and interaction with everyday objects.
For educators such as Jill Arrell in Massachusetts, the shift has been striking. Before the curriculum, she wove spatial vocabulary into lessons only informally, directing pupils to put items “on” a shelf or place their hands “behind” their backs. Since adopting the programme two years ago, her students have taken pleasure in following maps that guide them “into” the sandbox, “around” the tree, or “behind” the chair. She has even created treasure maps of her own classroom and playground, turning lessons into imaginative adventures.
Designing the augmented reality elements presented its own challenges. Developers had to account for the way preschoolers interact with technology, ensuring that tasks did not require awkward manoeuvres such as tapping the screen while holding the device. Over time, refinements were introduced after testing across 16 preschool classrooms. Teachers provided feedback on which activities worked well and which proved too complicated, leading to adjustments in the complexity of mazes and maps.
Despite these hurdles, the research team has concluded that the curriculum strikes a balance between educational depth and accessibility. By adapting to children’s natural play tendencies, the lessons provide an innovative way to reinforce concepts that are typically underrepresented in early years teaching. Educators have observed that children respond enthusiastically, demonstrating eagerness to apply spatial vocabulary both in structured tasks and in spontaneous classroom activities.
The programme has also been designed with flexibility in mind, allowing teachers to repeat or expand lessons as needed. Researchers believe that this adaptability makes it possible to sustain interest while reinforcing understanding. The long-term aim is to establish a reliable model that can be replicated across a wider range of educational settings.
The findings suggest that augmented reality can provide a valuable tool for building early spatial skills, laying the groundwork for future achievement in mathematics and science. By embedding these ideas within playful and engaging contexts, the initiative highlights a promising direction for early childhood education, offering a novel blend of technology, creativity and foundational learning.
