Top or Bottom Pictures Worksheet

The Top or Bottom Pictures Worksheet teaches one of the very first position words a child needs in school: is it at the top, or is it at the bottom? Kindergarten students hear directions built on those two words all day long, from the top of the page to the bottom shelf of the cubby, and a student who cannot picture the difference cannot follow the direction. This sheet slows that idea down to one picture at a time and asks the child to say where the object is before doing anything else with it.

Six picture cards fill page one. Each card holds a box that is split across the middle into a top half and a bottom half, and one object rests in one of them: a red car, a blue book, a yellow banana, an orange carrot, a green leaf and a brown shoe. Under every box are the two words Top and Bottom. The child looks at the box, decides which half the object is in, and circles the matching word. Nothing has to be read to answer, because the picture itself is the question, so a student who is still learning letters can work through the page independently. The answers do not fall into a pattern down the page, so each card has to be looked at on its own. The answer key on page two shows the same six cards with the correct word circled.

What’s Included

• Six picture cards, each with a two-part box that shows a top half and a bottom half
• One clear object per card, drawn large enough for kindergarten eyes
• Top and Bottom printed under every box in kindergarten-sized type for circling
• A full answer key on page two

Three Reasons This Helps Kids

• Position words are the vocabulary of classroom directions, and top and bottom are the pair a child meets first
• Circling a word instead of writing one keeps the task on the thinking, not on the handwriting, which is where a kindergarten student still needs the most help
• Every card is built the same way, so the child cannot guess from the layout and has to look at the picture to answer

Ideas for Teachers and Parents

• Before handing out this kindergarten following directions worksheet, play a quick game: hold up a book and put it on the top shelf, then the bottom shelf, and let the class call out the word
• Ask the child to say a full sentence for each card, such as “The car is at the top,” so the word moves into speech and not just onto paper
• Turn the page over and let the child draw their own box with something at the top and something at the bottom, then quiz a partner
• Come back to the same six pictures later and ask which ones are at the bottom, so the child sorts rather than labels

Related Resources

• Following Directions Tasks Worksheet
• Following Directions Coloring Worksheet
• Circle Left or Right Worksheet
• In Song

The Top or Bottom Pictures Worksheet prints on two pages and needs nothing but a crayon or a pencil.