Positional Words and Directional Words

Directions provide assistance in pointing out the proper route. Position defines placement or arrangement in an order (e.g. first, second, third). The position of an object is also referred to as ordinal numbers.

Knowledge about directional or positional words as well as ordinal numbers enhances a child’s ability to give and follow directions as well as to speak precisely. One of the skills a child should master in kindergarten is the ability to describe the location of an object using positional or directional words. Our kindergarten teachers recommended working on the following words:

above	after	before	behind	between
bottom	front	middle	under	top

Using objects such as a stuff animal or doll, help your child grasp these words by putting them in various positions. For example, put the doll after the stuffed animal. Another great activity is to point out items throughout your home, e.g. the cat is under the chair.

Positional and Directional Words

The positional and direction words in the table below are presented in alphabetical order.

above	after	around	before	beginning
behind	below	beside	between	bottom
down	end	far	finish	front
in	inside	left	middle	near
next to	off	on	out	outside
over	right	start	through	top
under	up	upside down

Many of the words noted above are also sight words. In fact, almost half of these words are included on Dolch’s sight word list.

Directional & Positional Worksheets

We created 14 free directional and positional worksheets to help your child learn these words. When possible, each worksheet provides an opportunity for a child to practice writing the word as well as a fun activity to reinforce its meaning.

Directional & Positional Worksheets (PDF)	Directional & Positional Words
Worksheet 1	on, off, above, below, in, out, near, far, before, after, left & right
Worksheet 2	on, off, in, out, above, below, left, right, before, after, over & under
Worksheet 3	over, under, near, far, before, after, left & right
Worksheet 4	top & bottom
Worksheet 5	top, middle & bottom
Worksheet 6	left, between & right
Worksheet 7	start & finish (go & stop are included too)
Worksheet 8	above & below
Worksheet 9	front & middle
Worksheet 10	inside & outside
Worksheet 11	before & after
Worksheet 12	next to, between & end
Worksheet 13	upside down
Worksheet 14	on, off, under & over

Related Articles

• Number Worksheets
• Even & Odd Numbers
• More Less or Equal
• Counting Chart: Numbers 1 to 100