Free spatial thinking game: Shape Spin

What Shape Spin trains

Shape Spin trains mental rotation: turning an object in your mind's eye. It is one of the core spatial skills, and research shows it improves with practice.

Why it matters for a grade-3 child

Children use spatial thinking in geometry, when reading maps, building with blocks or telling "b" from "d" and "p" from "q". Spatial skills also tend to go hand in hand with maths, so a few spins a day are well spent.

How to play

1. Look at the two shapes.
2. Turn one of them in your head. Does it fit the other one?
3. Tap "same" or "mirror". A mistake replays the turn so you can see why.

Bip reads every instruction aloud and shows a 3-second demo first, so children who don’t read yet can play too.

How it adapts to your child

Shape Spin has levels from 1 to 100. Two right answers in a row make it a little harder; one mistake makes it a bit easier. That keeps your child at about 80% success: hard, but I can do it.

• Level 1 Shapes of 4 squares and no turning yet: just same or mirror.
• Level 10 Shapes are turned by quarter turns.
• Level 40 The little helper marker on the shapes goes away.
• Level 45 5 squares, and some rounds ask "Which one is the same?" among three.
• Level 55 Turns in eighths (45°).
• Level 75 Any angle in 30° steps.
• Level 80 Shapes of 6 squares.

Every mistake is followed by an animated replay of the turn, which is often where the "aha" happens.