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Front or Behind Sorting Worksheet for Preschoolers

Positional words like 'front' and 'behind' describe relationships between objects rather than the objects themselves, which makes them a genuinely trickier concept for a 3-5 year old than sorting by color or size. Deciding where each picture belongs and sorting it into the right box builds early spatial reasoning that later supports following multi-step directions and understanding maps or diagrams.

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Month 9: Play-Based Preschool Foundational Skills | Ages 4-5

This is page 18 of the pack. Ages 4-5 · Pre-KAges 4-5 · ReceptionAges 4-5 · LKGAges 4-5

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A maths pack with your child's name in it: pictures that explain, practice at three levels, puzzles and story sums about them. Print a new set whenever they finish.

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Curriculum

  • Spatial Sense > Spatial Concepts

How to use this worksheet

Before cutting anything, look at one or two sample pictures together and talk through out loud which object is in front and which is behind. Cut out the remaining pictures, and for each one, ask your child to point to the object that's behind before deciding which box the picture belongs in. Glue each picture into its matching 'front' or 'behind' box, checking together that the reasoning still makes sense once everything is placed.

Materials needed

  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Pencil

Extension activities

  • Line up three toys and ask your child which one is in front of another, then rearrange and ask again.
  • Play a following-directions game: 'Stand behind the chair,' 'Now stand in front of the door.'
  • Take photos of objects around the house in front-and-behind arrangements and describe each one.
  • Use two stuffed animals to act out 'in front of' and 'behind' with your child directing the poses.
  • During a walk, point out real examples — a car behind another car, a person in front of a shop.
Hemsweta Jain (Teacher Cheena), founder of RaisoActive

Written by

Hemsweta Jain · Teacher Cheena

MBA and Early Childhood Educator, teaching since 2014 · Founder of RaisoActive, Mumbai

Every RaisoActive worksheet is designed and checked by the founder before publishing.

Published · Last reviewed

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