How I Would Teach Spatial Relationships in Kindergarten

November 9, 2026

Save on Pinterest Jump to Freebie Shop the Resource

Hi friends,

If you’ve been looking at the Ontario Kindergarten 2026 curriculum and wondering where spatial relationships is, it’s under A9. Geometric and Spatial Reasoning, and there are two expectations: A9.6, describe basic spatial relationships and movements, and visualize objects from different perspectives, and A9.7, give and follow directions for moving from one location to another.

I want to be upfront about how I handled this when I was in the classroom. The spatial relationships expectations in the old program were very basic, so I didn’t teach them as a whole group. I usually assessed my students and only pulled the ones who needed extra support into small groups. However, the 2026 curriculum expectations are more complex and is a good precursor for coding (which is also new but in the PSI strand) so I know most of you will want to do some dedicated lessons so that students have a strong understanding of spatial relationship concepts. So if you’re planning to teach this topic whole group, here is the six-day sequence I put together. As always, please adapt it to your students and take whatever is helpful. If you’re wondering where it fits in the year, I explain the order I teach my math units and why I order them this way in this post.

Days 1 and 2: Positional words

I’d begin with an empty box and a stuffed animal (a teddy bear works well). Tell students that this week you’re learning words that describe where things are, and that these are called positional words. Ask a student to put the bear above the box, then ask the class where the bear is using a full sentence: “The bear is above the box.” Show the matching math wall card and add it to your wall. Then try below, in and out in the same way.

On day two I’d add beside, in front of, behind and on. “Next to” means the same as beside, so I’d put both on one card. Letting students do the placing and the talking is what makes these words stick, and it gives you a quick look at who is using the sentences on their own.

Day 3: Movement words

Day three is for movement words: forward, backward, towards, away, left and right. I’d model each one myself (or ask a student to), and then play a game of Simon Says. For example, “Simon says move forward 2 steps,” “Simon says move towards the cubbies,” and “Simon says move to the left 3 steps.” If time allows, a student can be Simon. Left and right can be tricky for little ones, so I’d show them how to make an L with their left hand.

Days 4 and 5: Following and giving directions (A9.7)

Create a Path grid pages with arrow tiles, a squirrel, an acorn and a snake for levels 1 to 3

For day four, make a 4 x 4 grid on the carpet with tape (or draw one on chart paper and lay it on the floor). Place a stuffed squirrel on the bottom left square and a toy acorn somewhere on the grid. Ask how the squirrel can get to the acorn using only the words forward, backward, left and right. One way might be forward, forward, forward, right, right, and then you can ask if anyone has another way. I’d say each movement word out loud while adding an arrow card to mark the path. You can also draw arrows on construction paper and cut them out.

On day five, I’d add a fox and a snake to the grid. The squirrel wants to avoid both of them, so students place the arrow cards and give the directions to reach the acorn another way.

Day 6: Bird’s eye view and worm’s eye view (A9.6)

Bird’s eye view and worm’s eye view cards with photographs, a magnetic wand and counters

To introduce perspective, I’d put an apple on the ground and explain that looking at it from above is a bird’s eye view, like a bird flying overhead. Then I’d ask students to lie on their backs for 20 seconds and look up at the ceiling. That’s a worm’s eye view, like a worm coming out of the ground and looking up. Once they’ve felt the difference, they can look at photographs and decide which view they’re seeing.

A bonus idea for transitions is positional words I Spy, such as “I spy something red that is above a desk.” It’s a quick way to keep practising while you wait in line!

Centres for practice

Once students have been introduced to the words, I’d start providing them with hands-on centres to explore. All of these are educator-directed play, so students are practising the skills on purpose while they explore. I mix educator-directed play with free play during my centre blocks. If you find centre set-up and management tricky, you might find this post, How I Set Up and Run Centres in Kindergarten, helpful🤍

Read and Place

Students read a sentence strip and place an animal in the right spot. I set this up with a grass mat (you can also use green felt or construction paper), a den made from wooden blocks, an empty toilet paper roll as the log, and a few animal figurines. If you don’t have figurines, the printable animals can be glued onto small wooden blocks so they stand up.

Read and place set-up from the side with bear, frog and eagle figurines around a block den and a log, with position word sentence strips

Fix the Mistake

Students look at the picture, read the sentence and fix the mistake by writing the correct sentence underneath. A dry-erase marker makes this one easy to reuse. I tried to make the sentences as decodable as possible so that more students can read and complete this centre on their own. My own little guy loved this when he was in JK!

If you’d like to try the Fix the Mistake centre with your students, I’m sharing three of the pages for free.

Each page has a photograph and a sentence with the wrong position word. Students read the sentence, work out what needs to change and write the correct one underneath. It’s a quick way to see who is using position words on their own, and the pages work well in a small group or as an independent centre.

Enter your email below and I’ll send you the printable.

Where is the Frog?

This mini book gives students practice reading and writing positional words. I made it with simple CVC and CCVC nouns (frog, log, den, box) so the sentences are as decodable as possible. There is a tracing version and a fill in the blank version, so you can choose what suits each student.

Create a Path

Kindergarten Spatial Relationships Lessons & Centres, preview 5

Students help the squirrel get to the acorn using arrow tiles, and they say the movement words as they go. There are three levels (no obstacles, one obstacle and two obstacles), plus a few other scenes like a girl getting home or a bee getting to its hive. An empty grid is included too, so you can add your own mini figures.