The visual and visuo-haptic exploration of geometrical shapes increases their recognition in preschoolers

This study assessed the benefit of a multisensory intervention on the recognition of geometrical shapes in kindergarten children. Two interventions were proposed, both conducted by the teachers and involving exercises focused on the properties of the shapes but differing in the sensory modalities used to explore them. In the ‘‘VH’’ intervention, the visual and haptic modalities were used to explore the raised shapes while only the visual modality was involved in the ‘‘V’’ (Visual) intervention. We compared the effect of the two interventions on the acquisition of conceptual knowledge about squares, rectangles and triangles in 72 preschoolers. Results showed that children progressed more importantly following VH than V intervention for rectangles and triangles. The addition of the haptic modality in intervention provides beneficial effects by allowing children to better understand what is included in a shape category. Results are discussed in relation to the multimodal coding (in line with embodied theories) and the analytic perception generated by the haptic modality.