Non-verbal Reasoning · Shape Matching
Shadow Match
One of these four shadows belongs to the figure at the top. Tap the one that matches it exactly.
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Why this works
A shadow keeps the outline of a shape and throws away everything inside it, but it never flips, turns or resizes the shape. So the safe method is to pick one distinctive feature and test it in every option rather than judging the whole picture at once. Here the arm sticking out on the right is the giveaway: one option has it on the left, which means it has been flipped, and another has it pointing down, which means it has been turned a quarter turn. Then check the outline for anything added or removed, which catches the option with the extra notch in its top edge. One feature at a time beats one glance every time.
Helping a child through Shadow Match
Hints, least revealing first
- The shadow is the same shape, the same way up and the same size. Nothing is allowed to change.
- Pick one feature and check it in every shadow. The short arm sticks out on the right of the figure. Where is it in each shadow?
- Two shadows have the arm in the wrong place, and one has an extra bite taken out of its top edge.
When they finish it: “Perfect fit, edge for edge.”
11+ skill this exercise practises
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Shadow Match practises one skill. Non-verbal Reasoning has 22 of them
A free diagnostic covers every non-verbal reasoning skill and the other three subjects, and comes back with a shortlist rather than a list.