<p>Spatial skills—the ability to represent, organise, and navigate the environment, mentally manipulate objects, and communicate information about the external world—are fundamental cognitive abilities that support everyday problem-solving and underlie competencies in fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Research shows these skills can be enhanced through targeted training, yet optimal strategies for training are not clear. This pre-registered study examined whether learning in a group enhances spatial training more than individual-focused approaches. Forty-five reception-year children were tested in a six-week training programme where they either completed a spatial task with others (‘social’ condition), completed the task themselves (‘individual’) or completed a non-spatial task (‘control’). Children in the social group showed significantly greater improvements in spatial assessments, including mental rotation and spatial reasoning, as well as spatial vocabulary. These gains were associated with engagement levels within the group. Our findings highlight that incorporating collaborative learning into spatial training programmes can yield stronger outcomes than individual practice alone. This proof-of-concept suggests that harnessing the social, communicative, and interactive dynamics of the classroom can amplify the benefits of spatial skill interventions and pave the way for larger, more comprehensive educational interventions.</p>