Fun Ideas and Activities
with La comida
Here is an activity that will engage your
students in hours of fun while the most important thing is taking place:
learning!
La comida activity is intended not only to teach
students the names of different foods but also to encourage active
participation and language development.
Students will learn to use the new words in context of what they like
and want. The ideas I’m about to share
here will aide in helping teachers and parents encourage children to speak while
at the same time having fun. When kids are actively participating and having
fun, the intimidation for speaking the language diminishes. Throughout this blog you will have access to
several Free activity sheets you can immediately download for use. You can also
purchase the complete activity of “Los alimentos” that has a full
variety of different kinds of foods and additional work sheets. You can find
the link at the end of this blog.
These are just some ideas to use as a spring
board for other ideas you may come up with. I will also recommend the appropriate age for
each activity, but each group and scenario is different so feel free to make
adjustment with the age group if needed.
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| You can use plastic food as well! |
Activities/ideas:
1.
Me
gusta/no me gusta:
for ages five and up.
Have students select the foods
they like and they ones they don’t like. This can be done in several ways:
students can cut and paste the foods they like and don’t like. For younger
children, the foods can be precut for them. Another way to do this activity: they
can circle the foods they like and put an X on the ones they don’t like. Free activity sheets included for this activity.
Me
gusta/ no me gusta for ages 10 and up:
With this activity, students will
write the names of the foods they like and don’t like. After they do that
encourage students to read out aloud what food he or she likes. This activity
is a good practice for writing in Spanish and also good for the
reading/pronunciation part in Spanish. Free activity sheets included for this activity along with a variation.
2.
Yo
quiero/no quiero: for ages five and up.
Give each student a small
disposable plate. Each student one at a time says to instructor for example:
“quiero pan, quiero pastel, quiero pollo. (At least three things)Variation: as students get more
and more familiar with the names of the foods, you can select a student to be
the one to give the appropriate foods to the student or students that are
asking. They can also say: "no quiero jugo....and so on.
3.
The
“tengo hambre/dame” game: for ages five and up. Have students sit in a
circle facing outwards. Then give each student a small disposable plate.
Instructor will walk around the circle with a tray of food. (it can be cut out
food or actual play food)Then all the students sitting in the circle say this
chant in a rhythmic fashion: “tengo hambre” while instructor is walking around
the circle. While instructor walks around the circle, students one at a time
lift their plate and say: “dame….(they can say what they want) for example :
“dame pan” then instructor put “pan” in the student’s plate. Right after that
the group chants once again “tengo hambre” while instructor is walking around
the circle. Another student will raise their plate and say: “dame pollo” and so
on until everyone has something in their plate. If time permits the activity
can go on for second or third round leaving students with two or three items on
their plate. All depends on time and
size of the group. Variation:
instead of having the instructor go around in a circle, you can select a
student to do it. Make sure everyone is
familiar with each food before playing the game. If a student asks for a food
that is no longer available then instructor can say: “no hay….” and keeps
walking in the circle. So that student will need to think of another food to
ask for when instructor gets close by again. This game can be done with the
beverages. Instead of saying “tengo
hambre”, students say: “tengo sed”
4.
En
mi plato hay activity: For
ages 5 and up. With this activity you will need small disposable plate or toy plates.
Put in each student’s plate three or
four foods. Ask each student: “¿qué hay en tu plato?” student should respond: “en
mi plato hay…..” Variation:
you can ask student to say what is in someone else’s plate. Example: “¿qué hay en el plato de
María?” Decide whether or not students
respond in complete sentence. I
personally prefer them to respond in complete sentence just for the sake of
practicing the language. But either way they are still learning!
5.
The
restaurant activity: for ages 10 and up.
Students have menus and another
student take orders. The student taking the order can say: “hola, que quieres
comer?” the other student can say as an example: “yo quiero pollo, papas fritas
y hamburguesa.” The student taking the order marks that down on the menu card and
brings it to the student. The student taking the order can also ask: “¿que quieres
para beber?” Student can say: “quiero jugo de naranja” or also say: “¿que hay para beber?” the student taking the order says for
example: “hay limonada, leche, batido and so on….” This activity encourages understanding and listening skills as well as language development. Small or medium size disposable plates will be
needed for this activity. Free menu sheet and menu card included for this activity.
You can purchase Los alimentos
Activity for a greater variety of foods and other activity sheets. To
purchase click here.
Hope you have lots of fun with
these activities!
Please share your comments and
ideas!
Thank you and….
Have Fun!
