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Beside and Next To

A kindergarten-friendly explanation of the positional words beside and next to, showing how they describe objects sitting right by each other, with pictures, comparisons to other position words, and simple practice ideas.

What Do Beside and Next To Mean?

Beside and next to are positional words. They both tell us that one object is very close to another object, sitting right by its side. If a ball is beside a box, the ball is touching or almost touching the box, with nothing else in between them. Beside and next to mean almost the exact same thing, so young learners can use either word to describe the same picture.

These words are part of a bigger group of positional words that help children describe where things are. Other words in this group include above and below, inside and outside, and left, middle, and right. Learning beside and next to helps children build the vocabulary they need to talk about location, which is an important early math and language skill.

Picturing Beside and Next To

Look at the picture below. A cat sits right beside the box, and the tree stands next to the fence. Both pairs of objects are close together with nothing separating them.

The cat is beside the box, and the tree is next to the fence.

How Beside and Next To Are Different From Other Positional Words

It helps to compare beside and next to with other positional words so children do not confuse them.

Beside and next to describe objects side by side, at the same level, close together.
Above and below describe objects stacked one over the other, not side by side. See Above and Below for more on that idea.
Inside and outside describe whether an object is contained within another object or not, which is a very different relationship than being side by side. See Inside and Outside for details.

Once children understand that beside and next to always mean "right by the side of," they can look for that clue in any picture or scene to decide whether it is the correct word to use.

Using Beside and Next To in Sentences

Encourage children to use beside and next to in full sentences when describing pictures or real objects. For example:

"The cup is beside the plate."
"My shoes are next to the door."
"The pencil is beside the book."

Notice that in each sentence, two objects are named, and the word beside or next to tells us how close they are to each other, sitting side by side.

Practice Ideas

Try these simple activities to practice beside and next to:

Place two toys on a table and ask, "Which toy is beside the cup?"
Look around the room and find something that is next to a window or a door.
Draw a picture of two animals standing beside each other and label the picture with a sentence.
Sort pictures into two groups: ones that show objects beside each other and ones that do not.

These small activities give children real practice spotting and describing when two things are beside or next to each other, building a strong foundation for reading maps, following directions, and describing the world around them.

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Kindergarten