Teaching spatial concepts with a simple laundry basket

A humble laundry basket is one of the most useful tools you can keep in your therapy kit, classroom cupboard, or home corner. Across speech pathology rooms in Sydney, kindergartens in Adelaide, and playrooms in Perth, this everyday item quietly does the work of five different resources. It is sturdy, hollow, open, and the right height for little hands to reach in and out, which makes it perfect for targeting spatial concepts with very young children.

Spatial words such as in, on, under, beside, between, behind, and in front of are foundational for both understanding and expressive language. Children need these prepositions to follow directions at child care, answer comprehension questions at school, and describe where things are. This post walks through how to use a single laundry basket to teach, practise, and generalise these concepts in Australian therapy and school settings.

Why spatial concepts matter in early language development

Spatial concepts sit within the receptive and expressive language strands of the Australian Curriculum's English syllabus for Foundation to Year 2. Mastery here is a strong predictor of later literacy success, because directional and positional words appear constantly in early reader books, comprehension questions, and NAPLAN-style prompts. Speech pathologists working in primary schools often see older students who still mix up behind and in front of, or who hesitate when directions involve more than one preposition.

In a clinical setting, spatial concepts often sit within therapy goals funded under the NDIS or through Medicare's Chronic Disease Management plan, especially when a child's difficulties impact on following classroom routines. Speech Pathology Australia's scope of practice highlights that prepositions and location words are essential for learning through listening, which makes them a non-negotiable target in any early intervention plan.

Children with developmental language disorder, Autism, or cognitive delays may understand one concept, such as in, very well but struggle with others, such as behind or between. Structured, playful practise helps close those gaps, and it also gives parents and educators a concrete activity to carry over between sessions.

Setting up the laundry basket activity

The beauty of this resource is that almost any plastic laundry basket will do. The tall rectangular ones sold at Kmart, Big W, and Target for around five to fifteen dollars are ideal because the handles are grippable, the sides are smooth, and the inside is roomy enough for soft toys. If you are working in a tiny therapy space in Melbourne or running sessions in a regional Queensland town, a smaller basket can also work.

Gather around ten to fifteen small items to hide, place, and move around. Soft toys, plastic animals, blocks, balls, and shape-sorting pieces all work well. Try to include a mix of sizes and colours so children can describe what they are doing using more than one word. You will also want a flat surface, such as the floor, a low table, or a play mat.

Before the first session, think about your goal. Are you targeting receptive understanding, where children point to or find an object on request, or expressive use, where children label where they have put something? Both can be addressed in the same activity. Keep a small visual of the target preposition nearby, especially for children who benefit from a picture prompt.

Activities for practising location words

Start by placing two or three familiar objects around the basket while the child watches. Name each one as you go: "The dog is in the basket. The ball is on top. The cow is behind." Then ask them to follow simple directions, such as "Put the dog in the basket" or "Find the cow behind the basket." Make a game of dumping everything out and starting again, because children love the controlled chaos of tipping the basket over.

As the child becomes more confident, shift the roles. Let them hide the toys and tell you where each one is, which encourages expressive language and lets you hear how they phrase directions. You can add complexity by using two-step commands, such as "Put the blue car in the basket and put the bear next to it."

Activity	Spatial concepts	Best for age	Materials
Hide and seek	in, under, behind	2-4 years	small toys, basket
Stack and place	on, beside, above	3-5 years	blocks, basket
Colour sort	in, next to	3-5 years	coloured items, basket
Story retelling	between, in front of, behind	4-7 years	figurines, basket
Obstacle path	around, through, between	4-7 years	basket, cushions, boxes

Use the table above to match the activity to the child's goals. Hide and seek is excellent for first introducing in, under, and behind, while story retelling with a small group of figurines invites longer utterances, such as "the bear is between the two trees."

Modelling longer phrases and following directions

Carrier phrases are your best friend when extending utterances. Instead of accepting "in" alone, model "I put it in the basket" or "The ball is in the basket." Pause before the key word and leave space for the child to fill in the gap, a technique sometimes called an expectant pause. Children often imitate the full phrase rather than the single word once they realise a fuller response is expected.

Two-step directions are a useful next layer for children who are confident with single prepositions. Try "Put the cat in the basket, then put the ball next to it." Pair the spoken direction with a gestural cue, such as a point or a slow movement, to reduce the working memory load. Children in Foundation and Year 1 in Australian schools often need this kind of supported practice to follow group instructions during mat time and PE lessons.

Recasting is a gentle way to correct without interrupting. If a child says "dog in", you can respond with "Yes, the dog is in the basket" without making them repeat it. For more ideas on prompting and recasting during play, these speech practice tips walk through similar routines that work in clinic and at home.

Adapting for schools, kinders, and group therapy

This activity scales beautifully for group settings, which matters in Australian schools where SLPs may see children in groups of three to five around a small table. Set up one basket per child or station, give each child their own set of objects, and rotate through turn-taking while a classroom aide supports the rest of the group. Many prep teachers in Brisbane and Melbourne use similar bucket routines during literacy rotations.

In early childhood education, this aligns closely with the Early Years Learning Framework, particularly the practice of intentional teaching through play. Educators can weave spatial concepts into existing centre activities, such as putting blocks away or sorting laundry by colour, and reinforce the same vocabulary children hear in the language program.

For school-based caseloads that stretch across multiple campuses, batching this activity into a reusable kit makes life much easier. A single labelled tub per school with a basket, ten objects, and a printed goal card can be left in the staffroom between visits. Caseload organisation can be a quiet time sink, and streamlining caseload notes frees up more minutes for actual therapy time.

Teaching spatial concepts does not require expensive resources, fancy apps, or special equipment. A ten-dollar basket, a handful of household objects, and a clear goal are often enough to make real progress. Try the activity this week with one child, one small group, or your own preschooler at home, and notice how quickly in, on, under, beside, and between start to pop up in their everyday play. If you would like a printable companion with picture cards and a data sheet, pop over to the shop to grab the full downloadable resource.