L2 Describe Direction

Bring directional language to life in this interactive, hands-on Working Without Worksheets lesson! Building on the previous session on describing position, children now explore how things move by following and giving instructions using terms such as left, right, forwards, and backwards. The lesson begins with a fun game of Simon Says to reinforce listening and directional awareness. Through animated slides, children explore how to move a robot to reach its target, developing logic, sequencing, and clear communication. If you have access to programmable toys like Bee-Bots, this lesson can easily be extended into a coding-style activity, making learning truly cross-curricular. For the main task, children guide a caterpillar across a grid to reach its leaves, writing clear movement instructions in their books. This encourages reasoning, spatial thinking, and early algorithmic understanding. The plenary revisits the activity, exploring alternative routes and questioning which path is shortest or most efficient—perfect for developing deeper reasoning skills. What’s Included in the Pack ✔ Full lesson plan with clear objectives, teaching notes, and plenary guidance ✔ Animated teaching slides with movement and direction challenges ✔ Starter: Interactive Simon Says direction game ✔ Teaching input: Robot pathfinding using directional commands ✔ Main activity: Caterpillar and leaf grid challenge with written directions ✔ Plenary: Discuss alternative routes and reasoning about shortest paths ✔ Optional Bee-Bot/coding extension activity ✔ Engaging, talk-based, and completely worksheet-free Why Teachers Love This Resource ✔ Builds spatial awareness and understanding of direction words ✔ Encourages active, kinaesthetic learning through movement and play ✔ Supports early coding and logical sequencing skills ✔ Ideal for teamwork, communication, and reasoning practice ✔ Fully aligned with Year 1 National Curriculum and Working Without Worksheets pedagogy Curriculum Links (Year 1