Teach Prepositions with a Board Game

This prepositions board game will help you “drive home” how necessary prepositions are for oral and written language!

By understanding the proper use of prepositions, you’ll equip your students with the ability to give directions, understand location and provide spatial and relational distances between nouns in sentences. 

Through this activity, your students will use the most frequently occurring prepositions: above, around, behind, between, in, in front, next to, on, out, to the left, to the right, under. To play, the students will read the prepositional word and find the matching picture to fill the parking lot.

Use this resource in your reading center, as a guided reading activity or as a whole-class exercise (see below) to practice recognizing and using prepositions.

More Ways to Get Prepositions Practice out of This Activity

Here are some more ideas for using this prepositions board game with your students:

Scavenger Hunt (Beginner)

Hide the preposition cards around the room when your students are not around and put the game board in the center of the room. Then set your students loose! As soon as they find a piece, they bring it up to the game board, identify the image that matches the preposition, and put it on the board. (Note: You may want to make a rule of only one student at a card at one time. If not, things could get a little crazy!)

Charades (Intermediate)

Ditch the game board and use the cards as charades prompts. Divide your class or small group into two teams. Teams will take turns sending up one student to act out the preposition on the card for their team while you keep score and hand the cards to the players. Once every student has had their turn to act out a card, the game is over and the group with the highest points wins. 

Be the Writer (Advanced)

On a separate sheet of paper, students will put pencil to paper to write their own sentences using the prepositions. This activity will allow you to assess each students’ understanding of the concept while letting them get in some creative writing practice of their own. 

Download and Prepare This Resource Today!

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource.

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access. 

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and Teach Starter Collaborator. 

More Prepositions Resources for Your Students

Check prepositions lesson planning off your list with everyday grammar activities like these: 

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Preposition Images Matching Game

Download these preposition images to help students master prepositions through visual, real-life examples.

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Digital Prepositions Activity

Make learning prepositions fun and interactive with this digital prepositions activity, designed to help students master prepositions of time, place and direction.

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Preposition Game – Roll and Cover

Use this preposition game as a fun and collaborative way of learning about these important parts of speech.