Preposition song kids

A Helpful Guide, Plus Fun Activities

If you’re like most parents, then you’re probably very busy with an endless to-do list. This can make it challenging to help your child with prepositions for kids.

Before you start worrying about your child’s language and vocabulary development, fear not! We are here to help.

Our HOMER experts know a thing or two about helping children understand the parts of speech, and today, we’ll be focusing on prepositions. To be specific, we’ve compiled a detailed guide for you.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

What Are Prepositions?

Prepositions as the linking words in a sentence that help express relationships between other words in that sentence.

Under and inside are prepositions we commonly use in the English language to describe where something is. Besides indicating position, prepositions also help describe when something is happening ( before and after, for instance).

In a sentence, prepositions are meant to be followed by a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase (e.g., the door, an apple, etc.) that acts as an object. For instance: “Put the apple on… ” is not a full idea because the preposition “on” needs an object after it (“Put the apple on the table.”).

We’ve mentioned that most prepositions express time and location. So, let’s have a closer look at that.

Prepositions For Time

Some of the most common prepositions for time are at, on, by, and after.

For example:

• Our class will start at 4 pm.
• We are going to the park on Friday.
• I’ll be home by midday.
• We’ll drive home after the game.

Prepositions For Location

A few prepositions you might regularly use to indicate location are under, on, in, and above.

For example:

• Place your book under the table.
• The dog is sitting on a chair.
• Your crayons are in your bag.
• The plane flies above the clouds.

Sometimes, it can be challenging for children to grasp the concept of prepositions entirely, but with practice and some of the below tips, your child will soon get there!

Before you can incorporate our tips for helping your child with prepositions for kids, they must be at the right age to start learning this concept.

When Do Children Learn About Prepositions?

Babies pick up a lot of their language from their parents, siblings, and caretakers. By 24 months, toddlers commonly use the prepositions “on” and “in.”

In early grades, prepositions are formally introduced. Typically, this would be after third or fourth grade. This is because, unlike verbs or nouns, prepositions are not as easy to understand.

From one of the examples above, we described how “on” can have different meanings. There are also the prepositions “to,” “for,” and “of,” which have various functions in sentences. All of this can be challenging for our young learners.

During toddlerhood and early childhood, teaching prepositions for kids is about exposure more than anything. One of the best ways to help children understand prepositions is by encouraging them to carry out instructions that have prepositions in them.

For example, you might say, “Please put this book on the table.” Simple instructions like this are often effective in helping familiarize children with prepositions.

Importance Of Prepositions For Kids

Why are prepositions so important for kids to understand? Why put so much time and effort into helping your child grasp these simple words? Let’s take a look.

Better Communication

One of the biggest benefits of helping your kid know prepositions is that it will help them communicate better.

As already explained, prepositions can be tricky to understand. While these words may be few and pretty short, using them correctly can make a big difference in communication.

Helping your child with prepositions from a young age can enable them to grasp the concept early, practice them often, and know how to use them correctly as they begin constructing sentences.

Improved Ability To Follow Directions

When your child understands prepositions, it will be easier for them to carry out instructions independently. For example, “Please place your crayons in the box” will not be mistaken for “Please place your crayons behind the box.”

Whether it’s in, on, behind, against, or beneath, your child will be clear on what they need to do and confidently do so.

How To Teach Prepositions For Kids

1) Read About It

Sometimes the best place to start with teaching children prepositions (or anything else) is through books. If your child is like most kids, then they already love listening to you read stories to them, so this is an easy one!

There are tons of books online that you can read to help introduce your child to prepositions and how they work. The following are a few great books for kids aged 2-6 years old:

• Where’s Spot?
• Rosie’s Walk
• Up, Down, and Around
• The Berenstain Bears Inside Outside Upside Down
• Hide-and-Seek: A First Book of Position Words

2) Choose The Missing Word

Once your child has a basic understanding of prepositions, it’s time to test their knowledge (but in a fun and easy way!).

Start by writing a simple sentence and leaving out the preposition. Read the sentence to them and give them a few options to see which word works best in the blank spot.

For example, you can write down, “I have dance lessons _ Tuesday,” and then give your child three possible options (in, on, under).

It can be great practice to help your child consider each option before deciding on one. Ask them, “Can I have dance lessons in Tuesday?” or “Can I have dance lessons under Tuesday?”

This questioning and taking the time to think about every option can help your child understand why “on” is the correct answer. It can also make the game silly and fun (“We can’t sit under the floor!”)

3) Fix The Strange Sentence

This fun activity works similarly to the previous one, except this time, you’ll write and read a sentence with an incorrect preposition, and then ask them to fix it.

Using the example above (“I have dance lessons in Tuesday”), what sounds funny about this sentence? In this example, your child will need to recognize that “in” is the problem and suggest what word should be used instead.

4) Expand A Sentence

Earlier, we mentioned that prepositions are the linking words that express position, time, and other functions in sentences.

A great way to help your child understand this is by helping them use prepositions with simple sentences.

To get started, you can say an incomplete sentence, and then encourage your child to complete it. For example, you can begin with, “There is some juice…” Your child will then complete this with “…in the fridge. ”

If they are still new to prepositions, kids will probably make a few mistakes. That’s OK! This is the perfect opportunity to help them learn and grow their vocabulary!

5) Musical Chairs With A Twist

Everyone enjoys playing musical chairs, so we thought it would be a great way to help kids learn about prepositions — with a bit of a twist, of course! All you need for this activity is some fun music, a chair, and an energetic child.

To begin, play the music and allow your child to walk clockwise around the chair (just like the traditional musical chairs).

The major difference is when you stop the music suddenly, your child will need to act out what you say. For example, sit behind the chair, under it, beside it, etc. You can even add to the fun with other instructions, like tapping on the chair or waving to the chair.

6) Sing-Along

You’ve probably heard your child singing along to their favorite songs before (they might even request them on the drive home).

If your child loves singing, why not use this to help them understand prepositions? All you need is a catchy tune (think of a song your child will already be familiar with, like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”) and some instructions to go along with the song.

With a silly song, simple sentences, like, “Sit on the couch,” “Sit behind the couch,” etc., become much more fun and exciting for your child to engage with while learning.

7) Place The Toy…

Sometimes the best way to help your child understand prepositions is by physically placing a toy in different places.

To help your child get excited about this activity, use their favorite teddy bear or toy and then give them instructions on where to place it. For example, you might say, “Place your toy on/under/behind the bed.”

We love this game because it focuses on the movement of one object and may make it easier for children to grasp what the words on, under, and behind actually mean.

Even better, you can turn this into a fun game by seeing how quickly your child can move their toy around to different spots in the house!

Fun With Prepositions For Kids

From our list above, we hope you’re clear on one thing: There are many ways to introduce prepositions for kids while making sure that they see them in a fun and engaging way.

Whether you choose to use some or all of the above-mentioned tips, remember to exercise patience with your child as they try to wrap their heads around prepositions and the rules that come with them.

With plenty of exposure during your daily life, you’ll soon find your child mastering these often complicated concepts.

Check out HOMER’s Learn & Grow app for more on how to help children thrive through their early years!

Author

EFL ESL Prepositions Songs for children | My Top 10

On, in, under, in front of, behind. Prepositions can sometimes be hard for children to learn. However, they are really useful for them to be able to talk about everyday life. So if you can find a fun way to teach them, that will be a big help for your classes. A song or two is a great way to do that, especially for younger children and if you combine your songs with lots of TPR, that will really help to get those tricky prepositions fixed in their memory. My Top 10 EFL ESL Prepositions songs for children has a good mixture of songs, suitable for all ages and levels of English. Use them either as a lesson dedicated to prepositions or as part of a completely different lesson, about places or people or animals. So get ready to move, these are my favorite EFL ESL Prepositions songs for children.

A really energetic song to start off with and really get the kids moving. If you can get the kids climbing up and down and in and out in the classsroom, this would be a great way to use this song. Build an obstacle course with cardboard boxes or even better, get outside and sing it there. If you haven’t got the space to do this, you could draw an obstacle course on the board and get the kids to move around that with flashcards or toy figures as you sing the song. If they’re older, ask them to design an obstacle course or a playground and describe how to use it and how it works. This would be a great way of learning and practicing lots of useful new vocabulary.

What exactly is a preposition? For those who aren’t sure and for classes of older kids, this is a great way to find out. The song and accompanying video will explain exactly what a preposition is and how to use it. Ask your class to make a list of all the prepositions they know and see if they know how and when to use them.

On In Under by Maple Leaf Learning

A silly but effective song that kids of all ages will love and will happily sing along with. It’s one of those songs that you’ll hear them singing to themselves as they leave the classroom or between classes, so make the most of this. You can change the prepositions you use to adapt it to what you’re learning. Play a game where one of the kids has to hide a small object and the kids have to guess where it is. “Is it in your shoe?” “In your bag?” “Under your hair?”. Children love games like this and it will really help them remember the prepositions.

There are actually three different prepositions songs by Scratch Garden, so choose whichever suits your lesson requirements best. These are really simple and easy to learn songs which use simple everyday vocabulary. Maybe your class could write their own version of the song using different vocabulary and changing the positions. They could make flashcards of characters or animals to move around as they sing it. Or they could write a story about what the animals are doing and why.

Where is my brown dog? There is a very cute dog in the video to this song and it’s having lots of adventures. This would be a fun activity for smaller kids and you could hide a brown dog toy (or any other animal) around the class and then sing the song together before going to look for it. What exciting places can the dog find to hide in? Let the kids take turns hiding it while the others close their eyes or wait outside the door for a minute. If you want to sing this with older children, you could use the song as a starting point for a story about the dog and all the places he goes to hide. Let the class tell the story or act it out together.

Another song for older kids who are finding prepositions of time tricky to learn. This song and its accompanying video clearly show how they are used and give useful examples. You could use it as the base of an activity making sentences about different events that have happened. Get the kids to write a story about something that happened describing exactly when it took place. Alternatively, you could give them a list of famous events and get them to find out when they each happened. For example, the first man landed on the moon in 1969 on the 20th July. You could have a lot of fun with this.

This is probably the song I use most often when teaching prepositions to small children. As you sing it, you can demonstrate exactly what the different prepositions are with a box and a small toy. I like to use a toy red London bus. Then change the position of the toy and ask the children where it is. Let them have a go at doing it too as the others sing the song and they will get the hang of it really quickly. You can use this song in loads of different types of lessons by changing the objects and where they are. Adapt the prepositions too if you need to in order to make them fit your theme.

If the kids in your class like to rap, this is an easy song for them to do. It’s by a 5th grader and is a list of different prepositions that is easy to learn and rap along with. Could your class make up a rap using these prepositions and giving examples of how they are used?

This is a great song if you are learning about furniture and rooms in the house. The little monkey is hiding around various pieces of furniture and the kids have to find it. You could hide a monkey in different objects in your classroom and let the kids find him. Then let them hide it too. Alternatively, draw a big house and furniture on the board and hide a picture of a monkey in different places and let the class look for him. Get them to cut out pieces of furniture and make a house collage with a hiding monkey somewhere in it.

Last of all, a song that would be useful when you’re learning about different places in a town and where they are situated. If you have got a map or can draw one on the board, the kids will have lots of fun finding different places and describing where they are. Pretend to be tourists in a new town asking for directions and do a roleplay together. Or, if you’re feeling really adventurous, go and explore your own town or city with your class and see how many different places they can find just by telling them where places are in relation to others. Then get them to draw a map of the town and describe where everything is.

I hope you have enjoyed this Top 10 of EFL ESL Prepositions Songs for children. I think they show that even quite a tricky subject to learn doesn’t need to be just boring exercises and can be a lot of fun. If you would like to see other collections of my favorite songs to use in class, you can find them here. Keep up to date with new articles on GoogooEnglish by following our Facebook page or, alternatively, sign up below for email updates. And don’t forget, if you have any more teaching ideas about prepositions or any other subject, please share them in the comments.

Prepositions "To", "OT"

Type of lesson: frontal.

Type of lesson: lexical and grammatical.

The lesson is designed for children 6 years old with 3 OHP level.
First-second year of study, first period learning.
An open lesson was held for preschool teachers 11/18/2014

Purpose: teaching children to distinguish and the correct use of the prepositions "to" and "from" in offers.

Tasks:

• Educational :
  • clarify the meaning of spatial relationships, expressed by the prepositions "K" and "OT";
  • to introduce children to the patterns of prepositions "K" and "FROM";
  • to teach children to notice and correct mistakes in the use of the prepositions "K" and "OT";
  • to exercise children in the correct use prepositions "K" and "OT" with nouns in dative and genitive cases; nine0030
  • to teach children to make sentences, replacing in in this sentence, the preposition "K" to the preposition "OT";
  • exercise children in differentiating prepositions "K" and "OT" and drafting proposals for plot and subject pictures;
  • to exercise children in laying out the diagram sentences with prepositions, learn to analyze proposals with suggestions.
• Correction-developing :
  • develop inhalation depth and smoothness, duration of exhalation;
  • to develop fine motor skills of fingers;
  • develop speech attention based on exercises to determine the prepositions "To" or "OT" in offers;
  • develop visual perception, imagination children;
  • activate mental activity children. nine0030
• Educational :
  • develop emotional responsiveness, ability work in a team and independently.

Estimated result: children learn to distinguish and use correctly prepositions "K", "OT" in sentences.

Total session duration: 30 minutes.

Resources: picture: gnomes at houses, schemes of prepositions, cards with schemes suggestions for the number of children, plot and subject pictures by the number of children, a toy "Kolobok", ball, multi-colored geometric figures with a complex pattern and emoticons - according to number of children, tape recorder, song recording "Little Country", demonstration board.

PROGRESS OF LESSON

I. Introductory stage

1. Organizational moment (in a circle)

Speech therapist:

Invented by someone simply and wisely,
At the meeting, say hello - Good morning!
Good morning! - Sun and birds.
Good morning! - Smiling faces!

I will smile at you and you will smile at each other. Let your smiles warm everyone with warmth. Do take a deep breath through your nose and breathe in the warmth and the goodness of this morning. Smooth and long lasting exhale all your worries and sorrows through your mouth.

(Children breathe in and out three times).

- And now wish good morning to each other and guests.

2. Game motivation

Speech therapist: Guys, do you love travel? Today we will go to A magical land where small words live - suggestions, get to know and make friends with some of them. Want to?

The music from the song "Little Country" sounds.

- Then close your eyes, and I will say magic words. nine0011 "Turn around yourself, in a magical land turn up."
Open your eyes, we are in a small magical country - the country of Prepositions. Let's walk along it.

Children to the song "Little Country" (1 verse) they snake around the group and return to the circle.

Speech therapist: The inhabitants of a magical land are as small as our fingers.

3. Finger gymnastics (in a circle)

Self-massage of the phalanges of the fingers).

Here is a magical land, And it is full of miracles. Over mountains, to lake, over sea, over bridge, on country road. From clearing, under bush , straight in river, over flower, near woods near lairs. Prepositions live here. nine0176

Vigorous squeezing and unclenching cams. thumb of one hand upper phalanx of the fingers of the other hand alternately, starting with the little finger. On a noun - kneading the phalanx of the finger - from the nail to the base - with the right hand. The same - with the left hand. Fingers of both hands crossed in the castle, large fingers are on top. nine0011 Children make crossed movements with large fingers left and right.

II. The main stage

Speech therapist: Guys, look what small houses in the meadow. Let's go to them take a closer look and see who lives there (picture: gnomes at the houses).

1. Acquaintance with the prepositions "K", "OT", their diagrams

Speech therapist: Consider two gnomes. One is called "K" and the other "OT". How do you think, why? ( nine0026 children's answers) Listen to the story about them.
"In the magical land of small words, there lived preposition " K" . He was very friendly and didn't like to be alone. Therefore, the preposition " K" often went to visit: K to his friends, K friends. If he did not go to visit, then everything moved equally: To tree, To river, To house ... (Showing the scheme of the preposition).

When someone to someone or something moves, approaches, we say small the word "K". Look at the diagram. Arrow directed towards the stick.

This is the diagram preposition "K".

And next to the preposition "K" lived his brother - preposition "OT". He was not friends with anyone, he was very stubborn and always did the opposite. His prepositions called: “Come to us, we will play!” The stubborn got up and departed FROM prepositions. Summer hot in the afternoon he was called to swim: “Let's go to the lake bathe!". The preposition "FROM" angrily turned away and went the other way - FROM lakes. Such he was stubborn. (Show preposition scheme).

This is the diagram preposition "OT".

The preposition "FROM" appears when an object moves away from something, moves away. Look on the diagram, the arrow goes from the stick.

2. Training exercises

Exercise 1. “Representatives”

Speech therapist: Close your eyes and imagine what can be approached in a magical land? nine0026 (K castle, river, friend, etc.)
What suggestion did you make? (Preposition "K")
When is the preposition "K" pronounced? (When someone moves towards someone or something, approaches).

Exercise 2

Speech therapist: Look at the picture and tell me who is running away. (Mouse runs away from cats, cat runs away from dog, dog runs away from wolf, the wolf runs away from the tiger, the tiger runs away from elephant, the elephant runs away from the mouse). nine0027
What suggestion did you make? (Preposition "OT").
When is the preposition "OT" pronounced? (When an object moves away from something, moves away).
- Guys, listen, is it possible to say this: Mom came up from tree.
Why is it wrong to say so? (Offer incomprehensible to people).
- What is the right way to say it? (Mom came up to tree.)
Petya ran away from home. nine0026 (Petya ran away from the house.)
The hare galloped off the fox. (The hare ran away from the fox.)
Why is it important to use prepositions correctly? offers? (Children's answers)
- Why can't prepositions be confused or skipped in speech? (Prepositions change the meaning of the sentence)

3. The appearance of a fairy-tale character

Speech therapist: someone is coming to us. Remember who in your fairy tale from all gone, but not one left? nine0005

If the children find it difficult to answer, guess riddle: “Round side, ruddy side ...