Position and direction – Year 1 maths worksheet with answers to download as PDF

Look at the row of boxes A, B and C. Choose the best position word to complete each sentence.

1. Box B is ____ A and C. (between, behind)
2. Box A is ____ B. (next to, under)
3. Box C is at the ____ of the row. (end, top)
4. A bird flies ____ the boxes. (above, between)

Look at the row of numbers.

1. Which number is at the left end?
2. Which number is at the right end?
3. Which number is to the right of 2?
4. Which number is to the left of 5?
5. Which number is in the middle?

Match each instruction to the arrow. Write up, down, left or right.

1. The first arrow
2. The second arrow
3. The third arrow
4. The fourth arrow

Use the grid. The grid has columns A to E and rows 1 to 4.

1. What letter is on square A1?
2. What letter is on square C2?
3. What letter is on square E4?
4. What letter is on square D1?

Look at the turns.

1. Which picture shows a quarter turn?
2. Which picture shows a half turn?
3. Which picture shows a three-quarter turn?
4. How many quarter turns make a whole turn?

A block tower has 4 blocks. The top block is red. The bottom block is blue. The block above the blue one is green. The block below the red one is yellow.

1. Which block is at the top?
2. Which block is at the bottom?
3. Which block is above the blue block?
4. Which block is below the red block?

Fill in the gap with one of these words: left, right, forwards, backwards, up, down.

1. When you climb a ladder you go ____.
2. When you slide down a slide you go ____.
3. When you walk to the door you walk ____.
4. When you step the other way you walk ____.

At the zoo the animals are in cages in a row. From the left: lion, tiger, monkey, zebra, parrot, snake. The zoo keeper walks from the left to the right.

1. Which animal is at the left end?
2. Which animal is next to the zebra on the right?
3. Which animals are between the lion and the monkey?
4. How many cages does the keeper pass if he stops at the snake? Count them all.

Mrs Hill's class sits in a row. From left to right the children are Ali, Bea, Cara, Dan and Eve.

1. Who sits at the left end?
2. Who sits at the right end?
3. Who sits between Bea and Dan?
4. Who sits to the right of Cara?

Zara has a treasure map with a grid. She starts at the home square H at A1. The treasure is at square E4. She moves right and up.

1. How many squares does she move right to get from A to E?
2. How many squares does she move up from row 1 to row 4?
3. How many moves is that in all?
4. She goes back to the start. How many moves back?

Max plays a robot game. He tells his friend: "Take 3 steps forwards, turn left, take 2 steps forwards." His friend is the robot.

1. How many steps forwards does the robot take in all?
2. What kind of turn takes the robot back to face where it began? Choose quarter, half or whole.
3. The robot makes two quarter turns to the right. What turn is this?
4. How many quarter turns make a half turn?

In the playground Lily plays hopscotch. The squares are numbered 1 to 8. Lily starts on 1 and hops forwards 5 squares. Then she hops backwards 2 squares.

1. On which square does Lily land after hopping forwards 5?
2. On which square does she land after hopping back 2?
3. How many squares from square 1 is she now?
4. She hops forwards 3 more squares. Where does she land?

The library has 4 shelves, one above the other. The top shelf is shelf 1. The bottom shelf is shelf 4. Picture books are on shelf 4. Story books are on shelf 2. Cookery books are on shelf 1. Science books are on shelf 3.

1. Which books are on the top shelf?
2. Which books are below the story books?
3. Which books are above the science books?
4. Which books are between the story books and the picture books?

At a dance club the children follow a dance. "Clap, turn a quarter turn right, clap, turn a quarter turn right, clap." The dance has 3 claps.

1. How many quarter turns are in the dance?
2. Two quarter turns make what kind of turn?
3. The dancers do the whole dance twice. How many claps is that?
4. How many quarter turns do they make in all?

Dev follows a path on the grid. He starts on H at A1. He moves 3 squares right, then 2 squares up.

1. Which column is he in after moving 3 squares right?
2. Which row is he in after moving 2 squares up?
3. Which square does Dev reach? Write the letter and number.
4. What is on that square?

Hamza gives directions to a friend. The friend ends up in the wrong place. Check Hamza's directions: "From the gate walk 5 steps forwards. Turn a half turn. Walk 5 steps forwards. Where do you end up?"

1. Where does the friend end up after the first 5 steps?
2. After a half turn, which way does the friend face?
3. After 5 steps in that direction, where is the friend?
4. Is the friend at the gate or at a new place?

A swimming pool has 6 lanes. Lane 1 is on the left and lane 6 is on the right. Ben is in lane 2. Mia is in lane 5. Dee is between them.

1. Which lane is Ben in?
2. Which lanes could Dee be in? Name all of them.
3. How many lanes are there between Ben and Mia?
4. Mia moves 2 lanes to the left. Which lane is she in now?

Three snails race along a line of numbers. The snail Sid starts at 0 and moves 7 forwards. The snail Sue starts at 3 and moves 5 forwards. The snail Sam starts at 10 and moves 4 backwards.

1. Where does Sid finish?
2. Where does Sue finish?
3. Where does Sam finish?
4. Who is furthest to the right?

A secret code uses arrows. Up (↑) means 1 up. Right (→) means 1 right. The code is → → ↑ → ↑ ↑. You start at A1.

1. How many moves right are in the code?
2. How many moves up are in the code?
3. Where do you finish? Write the column letter and row number.
4. Is the finish square the treasure at E4? Explain.

A dancer is facing the front of the stage. She makes these turns one after the other: a quarter turn, a quarter turn, a half turn.

1. After the two quarter turns, how much has she turned in all?
2. After the half turn too, how much has she turned in all?
3. Is she facing the front or the back of the stage?
4. What turn would bring her back to face the front again?