FOOD IS ONE OF THOSE TOPICS IN WORLD LANGUAGE CLASSES that gives a lot of bang for the buck.. we all like to talk about food, and there are so many ways to make it part of our lessons. Since I am a huge advocate of hands on learning, I use both plastic and paper play food whenever I am doing activities related to food- not only do they give little hands something to engage in, but it also provides visual support for my students. And this applies to all age groups, not just the littles- when I was teaching Russian to adults, I frequently incorporated manipulatives to support learning. Here are some ideas for using play food in your class: *CATEGORIZE ACCORDING TO PREFERENCE: This is a simple way to practice expressions of preference, even if your students don't know the words for all the food items. For my younger students, I make up ziploc baggies or an envelope with approximately 10 foods in them along with a set of cards indicating 'I like', 'I really like', 'I don't like', and 'I don't know' (for those foods they've never tried) and divide the class into pairs. Each pair gets a baggie and takes turns categorizing the foods based on their preferences. After a few minutes, I have them leave the foods in a pile, and they move to the next set (each baggie has different foods in it) so they can categorize again. I encourage them to say how they feel about each food in Spanish as they place it under a preference card-this is the focus of the activity, using the preference phrases themselves. For older kids, you could have them add reasons why they like or don't like a particular food- It's too spicy, It's sweet, It's gross, etc. This makes for a great (and simple!) Interpersonal Activity, particularly for novice speakers! *MY FAVORITE MEAL: Use paper plates to provide the starting prop, and have kids "fill" their plate with their favorite meal- could be breakfast, lunch or dinner! You could also title this: A MEAL I REALLY LIKE, since sometimes kids have a hard time deciding between multiple favorites. Kids can then turn and talk with the person on their left, then switch and turn and talk with the person on their right. I love activities where kids share with one another, it builds community by providing opportunities to learn about each other! *PLAY RESTAURANT OR MARKET: Play food lends itself really well to activities involving restaurant or market vocabulary and provide a hands on component to the action. Students can "order" food which is then delivered to them (put the play food on a plate!), or the play food can be displayed as part of a market stand where students can "buy" what they need to make a dish or to get items on a shopping list. This is a fun way to integrate imaginary play for little kids, and manners expressions such as 'please', 'thank you' and 'you're welcome'. *"ILLUSTRATE A RECIPE": Provide students with an authentic recipe and a basket or bin of printable food. Have them read the recipe and line up the ingredients below the recipe. This is a great center/ station activity! ALTERNATIVE: Have multiple sets of play food available, pair students up and have one student tell his/her partner which foods are needed for a particular recipe or dish. This is an easy way to add CULTURE to your classes! *PLAY 20 QUESTIONS: Have student go out into the hall and choose a food from a basket or bag. Upon re-entering the classroom, the rest of the class tries to guess the mystery food by asking a series of questions that can be answered with yes/no. Is it a fruit? Is it round? Is it an orange? etc. Once guessed, or the 20 questions are spent and the food revealed, choose another student and play again! *PLAY 'I'M GOING ON A PICNIC AND I'M BRINGING...': I love this old favorite, but I find it is easier for students to engage in when we have the food visuals in front of them. It helps with recall, and provides some structure and limits to what they can choose from. I put out a bunch of play food that they know the names of and as one is named by a student, they put it in front of them so we can all reference it. This also helps keep the game moving, as the task focuses on remembering the Spanish vocabulary, rather than what someone said on down the circle. *WHAT'S MISSING?: One of my favorite games with the littles is this one- place 4-5 foods in front of you, on the board or in a pocket chart. Have kids close their eyes, and take a food away. Have them open their eyes again and identify the missing food. After a few rounds, take away two foods, then three, etc. The funniest is when you take them all away! :) *CATEGORIZE INTO...: There are so many ways students can categorize food- healthy vs unhealthy foods, groups based on the food pyramid, meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), foods they've tried vs foods they haven't, types of food (fruits, veggies, drinks, desserts, etc), and so on. Provide a graphic organizer for students to use as a template, placing food in categories they write at the top (or have the categories pre-written), ideal for novice speakers! When focusing on the category headers, this also means you can use foods that students still haven't learnt yet since the key language being used is the set of headers, rather than the individual words, meaning you can extend the activity beyond the food vocabulary set you've identified as core. *LUNCH TALK... an every more popular activity for class, lunch talk is a great way to incorporate authentic communication in a personalized format. The essence of lunch talk is taking the opportunity to talk with your students about what they have for lunch (or what they ate), which also allows for practice of high frequency phrases such as 'I have/I don't have', 'I like/don't like (and all the other variants), I eat (along with expressions of frequency), etc. The tricky part of lunch talk, most especially for novice speakers, is their limited vocabularies, yet quite unlimited set of possibilities in terms of what they might be having for lunch. One way to support your students is, instead of expecting verbal output of what they have, have them SHOW you using PLAY FOOD! This then allows you, as the teacher, to facilitate interaction and reaction (oh, I like that too!, Mmm, yummy! I eat ___ that every day, too, etc) in the target language. You can then scaffold and support students in using some of the phrases mentioned above, and you can encourage more general words, like 'sandwich' (instead of peanut butter & jelly sandwich) or 'soup' (instead of chicken noodle soup) to keep it accessible for the Novice proficiency level. Don't miss our Sandwich Printable Props Pack for this activity! NEED PLAY FOOD FOR YOUR CLASS? Look no further! We have an ever growing set of play food in Spanish, as well as the same set unlabeled, as well as sets in German, French, Russian, and English! Visit our shop and grab it now- click here!
Get these free pretend play printables for kids to help encourage their imaginative play! Help them bring their play to life...
Very few plants can actually trap their own food and none can go grocery shopping so plants need to make their food by themselves if they want to eat!
FOOD IS ONE OF THOSE TOPICS IN WORLD LANGUAGE CLASSES that gives a lot of bang for the buck.. we all like to talk about food, and there are so many ways to make it part of our lessons. Since I am a huge advocate of hands on learning, I use both plastic and paper play food whenever I am doing activities related to food- not only do they give little hands something to engage in, but it also provides visual support for my students. And this applies to all age groups, not just the littles- when I was teaching Russian to adults, I frequently incorporated manipulatives to support learning. Here are some ideas for using play food in your class: *CATEGORIZE ACCORDING TO PREFERENCE: This is a simple way to practice expressions of preference, even if your students don't know the words for all the food items. For my younger students, I make up ziploc baggies or an envelope with approximately 10 foods in them along with a set of cards indicating 'I like', 'I really like', 'I don't like', and 'I don't know' (for those foods they've never tried) and divide the class into pairs. Each pair gets a baggie and takes turns categorizing the foods based on their preferences. After a few minutes, I have them leave the foods in a pile, and they move to the next set (each baggie has different foods in it) so they can categorize again. I encourage them to say how they feel about each food in Spanish as they place it under a preference card-this is the focus of the activity, using the preference phrases themselves. For older kids, you could have them add reasons why they like or don't like a particular food- It's too spicy, It's sweet, It's gross, etc. This makes for a great (and simple!) Interpersonal Activity, particularly for novice speakers! *MY FAVORITE MEAL: Use paper plates to provide the starting prop, and have kids "fill" their plate with their favorite meal- could be breakfast, lunch or dinner! You could also title this: A MEAL I REALLY LIKE, since sometimes kids have a hard time deciding between multiple favorites. Kids can then turn and talk with the person on their left, then switch and turn and talk with the person on their right. I love activities where kids share with one another, it builds community by providing opportunities to learn about each other! *PLAY RESTAURANT OR MARKET: Play food lends itself really well to activities involving restaurant or market vocabulary and provide a hands on component to the action. Students can "order" food which is then delivered to them (put the play food on a plate!), or the play food can be displayed as part of a market stand where students can "buy" what they need to make a dish or to get items on a shopping list. This is a fun way to integrate imaginary play for little kids, and manners expressions such as 'please', 'thank you' and 'you're welcome'. *"ILLUSTRATE A RECIPE": Provide students with an authentic recipe and a basket or bin of printable food. Have them read the recipe and line up the ingredients below the recipe. This is a great center/ station activity! ALTERNATIVE: Have multiple sets of play food available, pair students up and have one student tell his/her partner which foods are needed for a particular recipe or dish. This is an easy way to add CULTURE to your classes! *PLAY 20 QUESTIONS: Have student go out into the hall and choose a food from a basket or bag. Upon re-entering the classroom, the rest of the class tries to guess the mystery food by asking a series of questions that can be answered with yes/no. Is it a fruit? Is it round? Is it an orange? etc. Once guessed, or the 20 questions are spent and the food revealed, choose another student and play again! *PLAY 'I'M GOING ON A PICNIC AND I'M BRINGING...': I love this old favorite, but I find it is easier for students to engage in when we have the food visuals in front of them. It helps with recall, and provides some structure and limits to what they can choose from. I put out a bunch of play food that they know the names of and as one is named by a student, they put it in front of them so we can all reference it. This also helps keep the game moving, as the task focuses on remembering the Spanish vocabulary, rather than what someone said on down the circle. *WHAT'S MISSING?: One of my favorite games with the littles is this one- place 4-5 foods in front of you, on the board or in a pocket chart. Have kids close their eyes, and take a food away. Have them open their eyes again and identify the missing food. After a few rounds, take away two foods, then three, etc. The funniest is when you take them all away! :) *CATEGORIZE INTO...: There are so many ways students can categorize food- healthy vs unhealthy foods, groups based on the food pyramid, meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), foods they've tried vs foods they haven't, types of food (fruits, veggies, drinks, desserts, etc), and so on. Provide a graphic organizer for students to use as a template, placing food in categories they write at the top (or have the categories pre-written), ideal for novice speakers! When focusing on the category headers, this also means you can use foods that students still haven't learnt yet since the key language being used is the set of headers, rather than the individual words, meaning you can extend the activity beyond the food vocabulary set you've identified as core. *LUNCH TALK... an every more popular activity for class, lunch talk is a great way to incorporate authentic communication in a personalized format. The essence of lunch talk is taking the opportunity to talk with your students about what they have for lunch (or what they ate), which also allows for practice of high frequency phrases such as 'I have/I don't have', 'I like/don't like (and all the other variants), I eat (along with expressions of frequency), etc. The tricky part of lunch talk, most especially for novice speakers, is their limited vocabularies, yet quite unlimited set of possibilities in terms of what they might be having for lunch. One way to support your students is, instead of expecting verbal output of what they have, have them SHOW you using PLAY FOOD! This then allows you, as the teacher, to facilitate interaction and reaction (oh, I like that too!, Mmm, yummy! I eat ___ that every day, too, etc) in the target language. You can then scaffold and support students in using some of the phrases mentioned above, and you can encourage more general words, like 'sandwich' (instead of peanut butter & jelly sandwich) or 'soup' (instead of chicken noodle soup) to keep it accessible for the Novice proficiency level. Don't miss our Sandwich Printable Props Pack for this activity! NEED PLAY FOOD FOR YOUR CLASS? Look no further! We have an ever growing set of play food in Spanish, as well as the same set unlabeled, as well as sets in German, French, Russian, and English! Visit our shop and grab it now- click here!
Kids can play & learn with their food with these fun Goldfish crackers STEAM snack activities. Great for young engineers, mathematicians & artists.
Why do children have sensory food aversions? And, how can you help them overcome sensory issues with food? Get the answers and 8 simple...
In honor of Spring finally being upon us, here’s a fun and easy art project: First Aid Butterflies!! . . Things you need: Paper in your choice of color Markers Gauze (or cheesecloth) Band-aid…
Kids can play & learn with their food with these fun Goldfish crackers STEAM snack activities. Great for young engineers, mathematicians & artists.
Ban boredom on the weekends.
Every family experience can become an educative lesson, every endeavor can receive a running commentary that ought to explain the bigger picture, the interest
By: Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE. I love loose parts. I love playing with loose parts and sharing loose parts with other educators. My hope is when adults mess about with loose parts that there will be…
Check out how you can make a simple popsicle stick catapult with materials you already have at home. It's a fun STEM project that you can do with your kids indoors on a rainy day!
21 fun summer boredom busters to keep your kids entertained this summer
Are you looking for a fun activity to get your kids interested in cooking? Download this free Mad Libs printable to get them excited!
Teach your kids how to make their very own marshmallow catapult using common household supplies. How to construct a marshmallow launcher.
Music nourishes the soul, uplifts the spirit and feeds our heads, but only this pancake saxophone can play the breakfast blues and feed a family of five at the same time.This feast for the eyes and ears dubbed the "stacksophone" was shared by Denny's Diner last year but the concept is timeless, especially if you're thinking about becoming a restaurant-based busker!-Via Laughing Squid...
Free X-Ray Themed Printables
Loose parts come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. They stimulate the imagination and develop fine motor skills in kids of all ages. Set up invitations to play and see the true beauty of childhood innocence come forth while kids explore their prompts.
You may not be John Rambo but that doesn't mean you don't need to know basic survival techniques. If you were stranded in the wilderness would you know how to build a basic shelter to shield you from the elements?
Eating the right food for children with autism and ADHD is essential. Mineral rich foods can help with gut bacteria and symptoms. Learn to avoid glyphosate.
This Jenga Feelings Game is perfect for parents, teachers or therapists to use to help kids talk about their emotions and experiences.
A blog about handwriting, occupational therapy, sensory and self-regulation and math ant literacy materials for prek-elementary
Bake muffins bursting with blueberry flavor!
Need an easy science project for science fair? This is a great science experiment for young kids and makes a great science fair project!
Each of these 11 activities are fun and playful, while also building children's confidence while using their words.
Check out the best ESL restaurant and ordering food games, activities, role plays, worksheets, menus, dialogues, lesson plans & more.
Turn pretzels into a fun learning activity with this printable pretzel patterns book. It can be used as a quiet book or a hands-on math activity for kids.
Hands up who remembers doing this experiment back in junior school. I remember it clearly, and it was no where near as awesome as this with all the colours. (I remember the teacher using blue ink t…
Who says American school kids can't compete with those of China and Japan? Why, just take a look at the brain power our young'uns poured into to these amazing
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/My-Plate-Cut-and-Paste FREE at TpT!
We Are Thespians!
My kiddos are always asking for hands on science activities, even if it’s one we have done over and over like this Hovercraft Science experiment project.
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