To represent adhesion, consider droplets of water that fall onto a window as it is raining. These drops 'stick' onto the window until they evaporate or until are big enough to roll down the window. To represent cohesion, consider how water droplets rolling down a window quickly combine with other droplets to form a stream of water that flows down the window. To represent surface tension, consider a razor blade placed flat on it's side and it appears to 'float' on the water. However if placed in an upright position, it does not remain on top of the water.
