Vocabulary for Children: Prepositions for Kids | 50 Place, Time and Movement Examples

Prepositions for kids include in, on, under, behind, between, before, after, into and with. They help us explain where something is, when something happens, which direction it moves and how people or things are related. This article provides 50 practical examples in everyday sentences.

The fastest way to understand a place preposition is to use an object: “The ball is under the table.” Then move it: “The ball went onto the table.” For time, use a real routine: “We wash our hands before dinner.” Notice the difference between where something is and where it moves.

Place: in the box, on the table, under the chair, between two books.
Time: at six o’clock, on Monday, in November, before breakfast.
Movement: into the room, through the tunnel, across the bridge.
Other relationships: with a friend, without a bag, because of the rain.
Important distinction: prepositions often introduce noun phrases; some words can act as different parts of speech depending on the sentence.
Best first activity: move one safe toy and let the child tell you what changed.

What are prepositions? A simple explanation

A preposition usually connects a noun or pronoun to another part of a sentence and expresses a relationship. In “The cup is on the desk,” on introduces the phrase on the desk, which tells us the cup’s location. In “We arrived after lunch,” after lunch tells when we arrived. In “She walked through the gate,” through the gate describes the path of movement.

Many prepositions are single words, such as in, on, at, for and with. Others are multiword expressions, such as in front of, because of and instead of. Not every word that looks like a preposition is a preposition in every sentence: before lunch is a prepositional phrase, while before we ate is often described as a conjunction introducing a clause. Children need accurate patterns in natural sentences rather than an absolute rule based only on the word’s appearance.

50 preposition examples for children, with meanings and sentences

The list uses 50 examples or uses across five groups. Words such as in, on and at appear again under time because one word can express more than one relationship. This is not a count of 50 distinct spellings.

1. Ten basic prepositions of place

Use a box, ball and books. A child can move the object and describe its location in relation to something else.

Preposition or phrase	Relationship explained	Example sentence
in	inside a space or container	The toy is in the box.
on	resting on or touching a surface	The cup is on the table.
under	lower than and often covered by	The ball rolled under the chair.
above	at a higher level than something	A picture hangs above the sofa.
below	at a lower level than something	The temperature fell below zero.
behind	at the back of something	The bicycle is behind the gate.
beside	next to or at the side	Sit beside your friend.
between	in the space separating two things	The bottle stands between the books.
near	not far from something	The shop is near our home.
at	indicating a specific point or place	Meet me at the entrance.

Notice on and above: a shelf can be above a desk without touching it. A book is on the desk when it rests against the surface.

2. Ten more place and position expressions

These expressions can be used with maps, classroom objects and everyday directions. Multiword prepositions are shown as phrases.

Preposition or phrase	Relationship explained	Example sentence
in front of	before something in physical position	The bus is in front of the shop.
next to	directly beside something	The pencil is next to the notebook.
opposite	facing or across from a location	The library is opposite the park.
across from	on the other side of a street or space	The café is across from the station.
among	within a group or collection	She found her keys among the papers.
around	surrounding or nearby on several sides	Trees grew around the pond.
inside	within an enclosed area	The letter is inside the envelope.
outside	beyond the boundary of a place	Wait outside the classroom.
beyond	farther than a point or limit	The path continues beyond the bridge.
beneath	under or lower than something	A small box was beneath the bed.

Between is often taught with two objects, while among usually concerns a group. That helps beginners, but actual usage is more flexible: “between three countries” is normal when the individual relationships are clear.

3. Ten prepositions for movement and direction

Pair an action with a destination or a path. Children should hear the difference between being somewhere and moving there.

Preposition or phrase	Relationship explained	Example sentence
to	movement towards a destination	We walked to the shop.
into	movement from outside to inside	The kitten jumped into the box.
onto	movement to a surface	The ball rolled onto the mat.
out of	movement from inside to outside	She stepped out of the room.
from	the starting point of movement	The train arrived from the north.
through	movement inside a space and out another side	We passed through the tunnel.
across	movement from one side to another	They walked across the bridge.
along	movement following the length of something	We cycled along the path.
towards	movement in the direction of something	He ran towards the gate.
past	movement beyond a place or object	The bus drove past the school.

Use in versus into carefully. “The child is in the room” names location. “The child walked into the room” names movement towards that location. This contrast also works for on/onto.

4. Ten preposition examples about time

The time words often depend on what kind of time reference follows: a clock time, day, month, period or deadline.

Preposition or phrase	Relationship explained	Example sentence
at	a specific clock time or point	The lesson starts at nine.
on	a named day or date	We meet on Tuesday.
in	a month, year or broad period	The holidays begin in December.
before	earlier than an event	Wash your hands before dinner.
after	later than an event	We read after lunch.
during	within the time of an event	Please listen during the story.
until	continuing up to a time	Wait until six o’clock.
since	starting at a past point and continuing to a later reference point	She has lived here since 2020.
by	no later than a deadline	Please return the book by Friday.
throughout	during the whole period	It rained throughout the night.

Time prepositions cannot always be chosen from a single translation rule. We usually say at six, on Friday and in October. By Friday means no later than Friday; until Friday usually describes continuation up to that time.

5. Ten prepositions for other relationships

These prepositions express companionship, purpose, means, cause, exception and substitution.

Preposition or phrase	Relationship explained	Example sentence
with	together with someone or using something	I drew with a pencil.
without	not having something	She left without her coat.
for	purpose or intended recipient	This gift is for my friend.
about	the subject of a conversation or text	The book is about space.
of	belonging, relation or composition	The lid of the jar is blue.
by	the agent or means in some contexts	The letter was delivered by a courier.
via	through a specified route or method	We travelled via the city centre.
because of	the cause or reason	The match stopped because of the rain.
despite	even though there is an opposing condition	We walked despite the light rain.
instead of	in place of something else	Choose water instead of fizzy drink.

Note that by does different jobs: by Friday sets a deadline; by bus describes a means; by a courier identifies an agent in a passive sentence. Context decides the relationship.

How prepositions change what a sentence means

1. Place versus movement

“The ball is in the basket” tells where it is. “The ball fell into the basket” tells how it arrived. This is a genuine difference of meaning, not just a spelling variation. Likewise, “The toy is on the shelf” contrasts with “The toy was lifted onto the shelf.”

Put a toy on the floor, then move it into an empty box. Ask the child to describe the starting location, the movement and the final location in three separate sentences.

2. At, on and in for time

English often uses at with clock times, on with days and dates, and in with months, years or broad periods. Fixed expressions complicate this: “at night,” “in the morning,” and “on Monday morning” all sound natural.

Take a real family calendar and make three sentences using a clock time, a day and a month. Avoid presenting an oversimplified rule as if it has no exceptions.

3. By is not the same as until

“Finish the story by seven” means no later than seven. “Read until seven” means continue reading up to that point. A child who understands this distinction can follow instructions more accurately.

Offer two harmless household tasks: “Put the books away by five” and “Keep playing until five.” Ask what each sentence requests.

4. Between, among and across

Between can specify individual positions or relationships; among often means within a group; across usually describes a span or passage from one side to another. “The shop is between the bank and the market” describes its position; “We walked across the road” describes a route.

Draw a tiny map with a shop, bank, park and road. Let the child describe where buildings are before asking how someone could move between them.

5. Some prepositions form fixed expressions

English prepositions are not always predictable from dictionary meanings or translations. We say “interested in science,” “good at drawing,” and “depend on a friend” in common use. A child needs repeated experience with these patterns.

When a phrase sounds strange, read a natural example aloud and use it in a new sentence. Teaching the whole useful phrase often works better than memorising the preposition on its own.

A seven-day plan that fits family life

Use one real object, a short map and a calendar across the week. A five-minute demonstration can be enough for a useful learning moment.

Day 1 — Put a toy in, on and under a box, naming each position.
Day 2 — Compare above, below, beside and between using a drawing.
Day 3 — Move a toy into, onto, through and out of a container or tunnel.
Day 4 — Read a story and find a preposition that changes the scene.
Day 5 — Use a calendar to say at nine, on Tuesday and in December.
Day 6 — Compare two instructions using by and until.
Day 7 — Draw a fresh picture and ask the child to describe three positions and one movement without prompts.

Worked example: learn the word through a real situation

Imagine a child says, “The cat is the chair.” Ask what relationship is missing. If the cat is beneath the chair, model “The cat is under the chair.” If it is sitting on the chair, model “The cat is on the chair.”

Now ask the child to move a toy cat from the floor to the chair. Describe the movement: “The cat jumped onto the chair.” Compare the two sentences, one for position and one for movement.

On a later day, use a bookcase instead of a chair: “The toy is on the shelf”; “We placed it onto the shelf.” If the child can explain the same relationship in a new setting, they have moved beyond repeating a memorised sentence.

Common mistakes and what to do instead

Teaching prepositions as an isolated word list with no objects, maps or sentences.
Using in and into as if they always describe the same relationship.
Claiming a word is always one part of speech without checking its role in the sentence.
Teaching a rigid rule for at/on/in while ignoring common fixed expressions.
Confusing by (a deadline) with until (continuation).
Asking a child to copy fifty examples at once instead of making a few useful sentences.

Frequently asked questions

What are ten easy prepositions for kids?

Start with in, on, under, above, below, behind, beside, between, near and at. Demonstrate each through a toy, picture or map.

What is the difference between in and into?

In usually tells where something is. Into usually describes movement to the inside of something. “In the room” and “walked into the room” give different information.

What is the difference between on and onto?

On commonly describes a position or surface contact. Onto commonly shows movement towards a surface: “The book is on the table” versus “I put the book onto the table.” In ordinary English, on can sometimes be used with movement too.

Is before always a preposition?

No. In “before lunch,” it introduces a noun phrase; in “before we eat,” it introduces a clause and is often analysed as a conjunction. The function depends on the sentence.

Are by and until the same for a deadline?

No. “Finish by six” sets the latest completion time. “Wait until six” says the waiting continues up to six.

Should I teach all 50 examples in one day?

No. Start with a few contrasts that matter to the child and revisit them in changed contexts. A calendar, toy and simple map give many opportunities for practice.

How to check whether the word is becoming useful

Give the child a toy and two containers, then ask for one location sentence and one movement sentence. Listen for accurate distinctions such as in/into, on/onto and behind/in front of.

Use a new scene, such as a playground map or story, a few days later. If the child can choose the relationship independently and explain its meaning, the vocabulary has begun to transfer.

Continue reading in the eduKate vocabulary library

Find more word families, age-based learning guides and practical teaching examples in the eduKateSG Vocabulary Hub and Vocabulary Articles and Knowledge Hub. Each linked guide has a separate learning purpose, rather than being another copy of this word list.

Sources and further reading

British Council LearnEnglish Kids: Prepositions of Place · British Council LearnEnglish Kids: Grammar Practice · Reading Rockets: Vocabulary Learning

These are original teaching examples selected for clarity and practical use. This article is not an official syllabus, a validated word-frequency ranking, or a statement that every child must know all the words by a particular age.