Visual Closure

Occupational therapy

﻿Hi, I'm really looking forward to our lesson today. I hope you are too. Before we get started, this is just a little reminder. We're here to support any approaches you might already be using and any work you might have already been set. We know that this lesson is going to be going out to so many different children and families. So if you're not sure about anything or have any questions, then please do contact your usual therapy team. Have you noticed how sometimes you can see just the top part of a fork and know that it's a fork or you can see half of an apple and know that it's the whole thing is an apple. Well, that's because your brain has completed the picture for you. So you know, by seeing just one half of an item that actually it's a whole item and what it is. So what is visual closure? Well, it's our ability to understand what something is even when we can only see a little bit of it. And we need this skill to be able to quickly understand what something is without having to take too much time to process it. So in the picture below, we know that this is a chair, even though it looks just like a rectangle, okay? 'Cause our brains have put that together already and you can see that the other one, the bottom one that's pointed to is also a chair, even though we can only see its back. Right? Visual closure is really important because it helps us to read as we can quickly understand and recognise each word as we go. So there you can see that even though part of that sentence has been erased. You can read, it says I love my cat and dog. Okay? And without this, we'll find it very difficult to find something lost or amongst other things. So there you can see a fork, a knife and some spoons, and I've just highlighted so you can see the outline of the items. So even though you can't see the whole fork, you know it's a fork and you can't see the whole spoon, you know it's a spoon. Okay. These are the items we're going to need today, some assorted objects for someone else to hide, paper and pencils or pens, a jigsaw puzzle as hard or as easy as you want to try, several pictures and then a cloth or blanket or a towel to cover the picture. Restart once you're done. For our first activity let's do a scavenger hunt. Ask an adult to hide an object in a room for you to find, but ask them to hide it so that only a small part of it is showing. So for example, if you were going to hide a teddy bear then have just its legs peeking out from behind a chair, okay? When they tell you to hunt around and see if you can find the object, you can make it harder by asking them to hide much more the object. So only a tiny bit is showing and you can have them hide more objects at once. You could also have bigger areas. So instead of just in the kitchen, you have to find something that's in say your garden, which is much bigger. Pause the video now to try the scavenger hunt. Okay. For our next activity, we're going to look at half drawings. So ask an adult to draw half of a picture on a piece of paper, it's then up to you to try and finish off the picture, and complete the other half. See how well your half matches or how much detail you can add. You can ask them to draw more complicated pictures with more parts for you to draw. As you get better, the adult can draw just the little part of the picture so you have more to finish. So if I were to say to you complete these drawings, you would then have a go at them. So there's a house, half a house and a butterfly. Or should I say half a butterfly? Okay. Pause the video to try half drawings. For the next activity, have an adult get a jigsaw puzzle for you. Preferably one that you haven't done for a long time or that you haven't done before. Make sure that you don't look at the picture on the box. Okay? Have an adult give you one piece at a time to put the puzzle together. Okay? See how long it takes for you to be able to guess what is the complete picture? You can make it tougher by having all the pieces jumbled together at the start for you to organise and then add them together. Okay? If you don't have a jigsaw, you can just find a picture in a magazine and ask an adult if they can tear it off for you and cut it into say, four or six or eight pieces. If you have bigger puzzles with more pieces, it'll be more of a challenge. Pause the video to try jigsaw. Okay. For our next activity, we're going to do a covered picture. So have an adult put a picture on the table in front of you covered by a cloth, a towel or blanket. Ask them to slowly reveal more and more of the picture. See how long it takes for you to recognise what it is. You can make this tougher by using more complicated pictures. And the adult could also give you say, stop at a certain point to give you more time, to try and figure out what the picture is. So if I showed you coming up on the screen, now, you can see a part of something. What do you think that could be? I'm going to reveal more. Oh, have you guessed it? And more. It's a pencil. Now you may have guessed that much more quicker if I had shown you the top of the pencil. Okay? Let's try this one. I'm going to slowly bring something up. What do you think that could be? And Oh, have you got it? Have you figured it out? Yeah. It's a paper fan. Okay? Now let's try one more. Hmm. I'm going to make this hard 'cause you're so good at this. Okay? Something is coming up. Something is coming up. Ooh. What is that? Is it a bracelet? Hmm. Not sure. What about now? Yeah, it's a watch. Good job. And how about this one? Are you ready? Oh, what is that? It's Oh, I think it's a comb. Let's look, actually it's a comb and a brush in one. That was a bit tricky. Wasn't it? And how about if we tried, have a look and see what is coming up now. Oh, what is that? That could be anything, what if I do that, you've guessed it. It's a cup. Well done. Okay. Pause the video to try the covered picture game. So there loads of ways that we can make this easier or harder. You can use bigger toys or have more of it showing. You can use smaller toys and have less of it showing. You could just draw simple shapes for yourself and then ask an adult to complete it. So for example, like a square or a circle, you could also start with an item or drawing that's very symmetrical, which means that what's on one half is exactly on the other half. So a person's face for example, and you could also use simple pictures without too much extra detail to get used to figuring out what they are as they are uncovered. Remember do the best you can do. Have loads of fun while you practise. And if you'd like to, please ask your parents or carer to share your half pictures or how well you have found and uncovered other pictures on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak. Bye.

Visual Closure

Visual Closure

These resources will be removed by the end of the Spring Term 2026.

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