Position words: above, below, beside, in front of, behind

Why this exists

Position words say where one thing is compared with another: the lamp is above the table, the cat is behind the couch. Every one of them needs two things, the thing being placed and the thing it is placed against, so “the ball is behind” says nothing until you add “behind the box”. Over three days the child meets the words in pairs (above and below, then beside and next to, then in front of and behind), first with their own body, then with objects, then in pictures.

No counting is needed for any of it. Ask the child to say the whole sentence, “the book is below the table”, not just “below”, because the second thing is part of the meaning.

Day 1: Above and below

You need: a table, a small ball, a book.

Start with the body. Say, “Put your hands above your head. Now put them below your chin.” Then “above your knees”, “below your knees”. Next, hold the ball up over the table without letting it touch: “The ball is above the table.” Put the book on the floor under the table: “The book is below the table.” Point out that above and below do not need touching: a light hanging from the ceiling is above the table even with a big gap between them. “On” is the word for when they do touch, and “under” works for below with or without touching; both are fine to use too.

Then turn the sentence around. Ask, “The ball is above the table. So where is the table, compared with the ball?” The answer is “below the ball”. Every above has a below that goes with it.

Practice.

1. In the picture, where is ball A? Answer: above the table.
2. Where is box B? Answer: below the table (under it is fine too).
3. Is the table above ball A or below it? Answer: below it. Ball A is above the table, so the table is below ball A.
4. Hold a spoon above a bowl, then below the bowl. Answer: first the spoon is higher than the bowl; then it is lower, under the bowl’s bottom.
5. Name something in the room that is above your head. Answer: anything higher than the head, such as the ceiling, a light or a clock high on the wall.

Day 2: Beside and next to

You need: three children (or three toys), and a box, a ball and a cup.

Stand two children shoulder to shoulder. Say, “Maya is beside Sam. Sam is next to Maya.” Beside and next to mean the same thing: side by side and close, not on top and not underneath. Add a third child at the end and ask the one in the middle, “Who is beside you?” The answer has two names, one on each side.

Now put the box, the ball and the cup in a row on a shelf or table, as in the picture. Ask, “What is beside the ball?” and “Is the box next to the cup?” The box is not next to the cup, because the ball is between them. “Between” means one thing beside it on each side.

Practice.

1. In the picture, what is next to the box? Answer: the ball.
2. What is beside the ball? Answer: the box on one side and the cup on the other.
3. Is the cup next to the box? Answer: no. The ball is between them.
4. Put a pencil beside your paper. Answer: the pencil lies on the table at the side of the paper, not on top of it.
5. Who is sitting beside you? Answer: the person on either side, close by.

Day 3: In front of and behind

You need: a large box, a stuffed animal.

Start with the body again. Ask, “What is in front of you?” (what the child sees straight ahead) and “What is behind you?” (what they have to turn around to see). Then stand the stuffed animal behind the box, from where the child sits. Ask, “Can you see all of the bear?” Part of it is hidden. “The box is in front of the bear. The bear is behind the box.” The thing in front can hide part of the thing behind it.

Now have the child walk around to the other side of the box and look again. The bear is in front of the box now, and nothing moved but the child. In front of and behind depend on where you look from, which is not true of above and below.

Practice.

1. In picture A, is the ball in front of the box or behind it? Answer: behind it. The box hides part of the ball.
2. In picture B, is the ball in front of the box or behind it? Answer: in front of it. The ball hides part of the box.
3. In picture A, what is in front of the ball? Answer: the box.
4. Stand a toy behind a chair, then walk around to the other side of the chair. Where is the toy now? Answer: in front of the chair, from where you now stand. The toy did not move; you did.
5. Say, “Stand behind me.” Answer: the child stands at your back, where you cannot see them without turning around.

Exercises

1. Point to ball P and ask, “Where is this ball, compared with the cup?” Then ask the same about ball Q.
2. Give the child a shoe and a pillow. Say, “Put the shoe beside the pillow.” Then, “Put the shoe under the pillow.” Then, “Put the shoe in front of the pillow.”

Where this goes next

The same words are how a child will describe shapes found around the room while naming flat shapes (“the clock is a circle above the door”) and naming solid shapes (“the ball is beside the box”). Where a child stands in a line is told with a different set of words, first, second and third.