This study investigated the relationship between intramodal and intermodal information processing and performance on traditional age appropriate tests of spatial and perceptual-motor abilities. The ability of 65 normal kindergarten, first grade and second grade children to match to either a tactile or a visual standard was assessed with a modified haptic perception box. Each child was seen in six 30-trial sessions. The six sessions, representing six conditions, differed in the modality of the standard, the comparison, the method of presentation and hand(s) used for exploration. After the perceptual assessment, each child was given five standard measures of spatial and perceptual-motor abilities. Among the results, small but stable increases in accuracy and haptic scores with increasing age under both intra- and intermodal conditions were found. Differences were greater between kindergarten and first grade children than between first and second grade children. Children highly proficient in haptic information processing tended to explore the objects completely, as if deliberately mapping the shape. Those less proficient tended to haphazardly explore only a few of the objects' characteristics. Tests of spatial ability were correlated with accuracy and haptic scores of both intra- and intermodal tasks, with intermodal performance being more highly correlated with some tests than intramodal performance. Educational implications and directions for further research are indicated. (Author/RH)