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Visual Closure

Kangar . Echid . Quokk .

Did you automatically complete the above to ‘kangaroo’, ‘echidna’ and ‘quokka’? Could you picture the full words?

This process is visual closure, where you’re able to first recognise what an incomplete image ‘should be’ and then imagine what it would look like if it was complete.

How do I know if my child is having difficulty with their visual closure skills?

Typically, if junior is finding any of the following tasks hard they might be experiencing difficulties with their visual closure skills:

  • Reading and spelling
  • Copying something (e.g. a picture or design)
  • Solving puzzles
  • Identifying similar objects or words that have the same beginnings or endings

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Fun Activities

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Ways you can help your child with their visual closure skills

Here are some fun activities that will help to develop your youngster’s visual closure skills:

  • Jigsaw puzzles (e.g. pasting a favourite picture onto cardboard, cutting it into pieces, shuffling them and asking little miss or mister to put them together to recreate the image)
  • Trying to identify the shape or form of a ‘Dot to Dot’ puzzle without joining all of the dots
  • Giving them one half of a simply drawn picture, letter or number and asking them to guess or draw the rest of the picture
  • Copying designs using beads or blocks
  • Drawing only half a number, letter or figure and asking them to match it to a complete version
  • Making a ‘peephole’ by cutting a small hole in a piece of paper or cardboard; putting it on top of a picture (e.g. from a magazine) so it reveals only part of it; and asking them to guess what the picture is of
  • Looking at incomplete pictures and discuss what’s missing (e.g. a car without the wheels)

Some additional tips for improving your child’s visual closure skills

Whenever possible, begin with easier versions of the activities before increasing the complexity as your whippersnapper’s skill level increases. For example, use simple puzzles to start with and then gradually make them more and more difficult.

You might also want to try laminating some of the worksheets or popping them into plastic sleeves so your little one can use them over and over to practise their speed completing these visual closure activities.

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Combined Videos

Combining several foundation skills, our PlayBiz Play-a-Long videos run for 10 minutes or so. We’ve carefully ordered the activities so they enable your youngster to have an optimal learning experience and develop the skills they’ll need for school by joining in the ‘teachable moments’. Picture a fun and educational TV program like PlaySchool crossed with an occupational therapy session that’s chock full of strategies. Ready, steady, learn! Please note: The Play-a-Long videos don’t need to be viewed in any particular order.