Playfully learning visual perspective taking skills with sifteo cubes

In this paper we describe the design, development and testing of two computer games using Sifteo Cubes that help children to train their visual perspective taking (VPT) skills, i.e. the ability to see the world from another person's perspective. The challenge was to design an enjoyable and usable game that takes into account the huge variability in the perspective taking skills within the target group (preschoolers at the age of five, and older children with learning disabilities). Sifteo Cubes can be considered as digital or intelligent manipulatives that are often used in instruction. We advocate that these type tangible objects can help children performing VPT related tasks since they allow for actions in the real world that aid their thinking. Pre-test and post-test results revealed a short term learning effect on VPT skills after playing the two games.