ABSTARCT: In this paper, a comprehensive summary of research on the topic will be structured around the concepts of semiotic function and meaning, focusing on recent research in the influence of mental rotation skills over arithmetic skills on children. We search for underlying mechanisms that could explain such influence. As a result of the literature review, we conclude that there exist three possible mechanisms underpinning the relation of mental rotation skills and arithmetic skills: Working Memory, arithmetic-symbol reading capacity, and the concept of composition decomposition of figures and numbers. This study represents an effort for organizing and structuring, from an educational point of view, existing research on the relation between spatial and arithmetic skills in order to make it useful for instructional purposes.