Finding the right key on a crowded ring. Spotting one jar in a full pantry. Picking a name out of a directory, a car out of a parking lot, or the pause button on a crowded remote. Each of those depends on separating one thing from everything around it, and that skill is called figure ground perception. After a stroke, a brain injury, or another neurological change it can take real effort even when eyesight is fine, and a busy shelf or drawer can feel as if it holds nothing at all.
This page covers the figure ground worksheet. You can download a free scenic worksheet below (two objects hidden in a pantry), see what the task asks for and what it draws on, read how the figure ground subtests of standardized visual perception tests relate to it, and find out how the 15-worksheet set is graded across three levels, from four-option shape hunts to counting 67 overlapping shapes.
Download the free figure ground worksheet
Download the PDFWant more pages like this? Visual Figure-Ground Worksheets (15 Pages) $4.25 See the full set
Worksheet VFG2A, the first page of the Level 2 Scenic Set. Two target objects are drawn at the top, a chili pepper and a shaker. Below them is a pantry scene on three shelves, with 17 labelled jars, bags, boxes, and bottles and more containers behind them. The person finds each object and circles it; a completion time line sits at the bottom. Free for personal, classroom, and session use.
- Level: 2 of 3, scenic
- Targets: 2 hidden objects
- Scene: 3 shelves, 17 labelled containers
- Timing: no time limit, completion time recorded
- Paper: US Letter
What is a figure ground task?
Every worksheet in the set shows a target first, then a busy field where it is hidden. On the free page the targets are two everyday objects and the field is a pantry: three shelves of jars, bags, boxes, and bottles, most of them labelled, and many of them roughly the same size and outline as the things being looked for. The person scans the shelves, finds each object, and circles it. There is no time limit. A completion time line at the bottom records how long the search took, so the same page can be compared with itself on another day.
What makes the format useful for practice is that the wrong candidates are not random. The shaker on the free page sits among jars with the same silhouette, and the pepper is inside a container rather than out in the open. Nothing is found by glancing; the whole scene has to be searched in some kind of order, and the target has to be recognized when it is partly covered or surrounded by other lines. Because the response is a circle or a pointed finger, the task stays accessible when writing is slow or difficult.
Figure ground perception
Separating one shape or object from a cluttered background. The core of every page in the set.
Visual scanning
Searching a field in an orderly way so nothing is skipped. Shelf by shelf works better than jumping around the page.
Selective attention
Ignoring the clutter that is not the target while staying on task. The labels and look-alike jars are there to pull attention away.
Visual discrimination
Telling the target from a shape that is nearly, but not quite, the same. On the Level 1 pages, three of the four options hold a near miss.
Figure ground subtests of the TVPS and MVPT, and how these worksheets differ
Figure ground perception is usually assessed as one part of a broader standardized test of visual perception rather than on its own. Instruments such as the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (TVPS), the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT), and the Developmental Test of Visual Perception include figure ground items among their subtests, alongside items for skills such as visual discrimination, visual memory, spatial relations, form constancy, and visual closure. Occupational therapists use them to look at how a person separates a target from a busy background, and at how that compares with their other visual perceptual skills.
A figure ground item on these tests looks a lot like the Level 1 pages in this set: a target shape is shown, and the person has to find it inside a more complex design, usually by choosing which of several options contains it. The TVPS and the MVPT are motor-free, meaning the person points to or names the answer instead of drawing or writing it, so the result reflects perception rather than hand control. The tests come with standardized administration and scoring, are given by trained professionals, and are interpreted alongside a history and other findings.
Worth knowing: the worksheets on this page borrow the format, not the test. The shapes, scenes, and options are our own, there are no norms, and nothing here produces a score that can be compared with a population. They are structured cognitive practice materials, not an assessment, and not a substitute for an evaluation by a qualified professional. If someone is due to be assessed with the TVPS, the MVPT, or a similar instrument, tell the clinician about any figure ground practice, since familiarity with the format can affect how a result is read.
How the 15 worksheets are graded
Five worksheets at each of three levels. Each level changes what the target is and what it is hidden in, and a scoring sheet at the back lists the answer for every page:
Level 1: Multiple option (5 worksheets, VFG1A to VFG1E)
Two problems on each page. A shape is drawn at the top, often two simple shapes joined, such as a triangle beside a circle, and four tangled line patterns numbered 1 to 4 sit below it. Only one pattern holds the shape intact; the others hold part of it, a changed version, or a look-alike. Circle the number. Ten problems across the level, with the correct option numbers on the scoring sheet.
Level 2: Scenic (5 worksheets, VFG2A to VFG2E)
One to three everyday objects are drawn at the top, and a detailed realistic scene fills the page: a pantry (the free sample), a drawer of tools, an office desk, a garage, and a beach. Find each object, circle it, and write the completion time. On the beach page the ball is marked x2 because it appears twice. The scoring sheet shows each scene with the objects circled.
Level 3: Shape counting (5 worksheets, VFG3A to VFG3E)
A field of outline shapes, many of them overlapping, with a blank for each shape type at the bottom. The first three pages use circles, squares, and triangles; the fourth adds diamonds; the fifth adds pentagons. The count grows from 20 shapes on the first page (8 circles, 6 triangles, 6 squares) to 67 on the last (26 circles, 23 triangles, 14 squares, 3 pentagons, 1 diamond). Completion time is recorded here too.
| What you get | Free sample | Full set |
|---|---|---|
| Worksheets | 1 | 15 |
| Levels | Level 2, scenic | Multiple option, scenic, shape counting |
| Scenes | Pantry | Pantry, drawer, office desk, garage, beach |
| Hidden objects per scene | 2 | 1 to 3, with one object appearing twice on the beach page |
| Shapes to count | None | 20 to 67 per page, 3 to 5 shape types |
| Completion time line | Yes | Yes, on every scenic and counting page |
| Answer key | Not included | Scoring sheet for all 15 pages |
| Repeat sessions without reusing a page | One page | Weeks of practice |
Using it in a session or at home
- Start the clock when the search starts. There is no time limit. Write the completion time on the line, and compare it with the same person on the same page another week, not with anyone else.
- Search shelf by shelf. Agree an order before the first look: top shelf left to right, then the middle, then the bottom. Watch for eyes jumping around the page, a shelf that never gets searched, or the same corner being checked three times.
- Find one target at a time if two is too many. Cover the shaker with a finger, search for the pepper, then swap. Holding both targets in mind while scanning is part of the task, but not necessarily on the first try.
- Point or describe instead of circling. If a pen is hard to manage, the person points, or says where the object is (“top shelf, next to the pasta”), and a partner marks the page. The search is the same; only the response changes.
- Reduce the field when a scene overwhelms. A sheet of paper over two of the three shelves turns the page into a smaller search. Slide it down as the search gets easier, or step back to the Level 1 pages, where each option is a single small pattern.
- Move up when it gets easy. When scenic pages are finished quickly and without near misses, the shape counting pages are ready. Count one shape type at a time and tick each shape as it is counted, so the overlapping ones are not counted twice.
Prefer a screen? We also offer a free interactive version, Figure Ground on our tools site, which asks the person to pick target shapes out of overlapping outlines or count every shape in a field, on any screen, and times each round so the completion time is recorded without a stopwatch. Nothing to print, free to use.
Who uses figure ground worksheets
- Occupational therapists working on visual perception with adults after a stroke or brain injury
- Speech-language professionals and neuropsychology teams
- Community and day programs running group cognitive stimulation sessions
- Caregivers and family members supporting practice at home
- Adults who want structured, printable visual perception activities that were not made for children
All of our worksheets are designed to be adult-appropriate, visually clean where clarity matters, and deliberately busy only where the task calls for it.
The free worksheet above is one of fifteen. The full Visual Figure-Ground set includes all three levels, the five scenes, the five shape counting pages, and the scoring sheet. It is also part of the Visual Perception Worksheets Bundle, 70 worksheets, alongside the visual closure, visual discrimination, and visual spatial sets. If recognizing a shape from only part of it is the harder skill, the free visual closure worksheet is the natural companion page, and the visual perception guide explains how the formats fit together.
These materials support cognitive stimulation and structured practice. They are not medical treatment or an assessment, and no specific therapeutic outcomes are claimed.
