A very common activity for teaching directional words is to work with models and toys. Gather your classroom students around you and show them a prop such as a toy car or a stuffed animal. Have a conversation with your students about the prop and explain to them that they are going to learn a new group of words that tell them where something is going. Demonstrate directional words by taking the prop and moving “up” and placing it on “top” of a table, or “inside” of a desk. Once you have done this a couple of times allow your students to call out the appropriate directional word with you.
As your students grow in understanding of directional words encourage them to put them into practice. Create several search activities in the classroom or playground. Tell the students that they will find a specific book on “top” of the desk. Engage them during recess by telling them to look for a specific toy "behind" a playground set such as the jungle gym. Compound the exercises and make it more challenging by using multiple directional words at once. For example ask them to find a bottle that is at the “rear” of the classroom and “inside” the box on the “right” of the room. Put a box on the left side of the room with no bottle inside to make sure that comprehension is increased.
Implement flash cards to help students connect the meaning of a directional word with the skill of being able to read it. Purchase cards that have a photo of the directional word in action on the front and the actual word written on the back. For this type of exercise you are not asking students to demonstrate the directional word, but the focus is on visual recognition and comprehension of the word. Once the class becomes more comfortable with the repetition you can quiz them using the cards. Point to the area of the picture that represents the word and ask a student to say which word fits.
For a growing child it is especially important that they be able to connect what they learn to their own sense of self. This is especially true with directional words. To help your students do this have them stand in a circle or group facing you. State directional words and have them do the action as you tell them to. A simple way to make this a fun exercise is to play Simon Says. In this case you can say, “Simon Says put you right hand behind you” or “Simon says touch the person to your left.”