Teaching English language learners about food and nutrition can be very beneficial. It provides a meaningful context for learning new vocabulary, grammar structures, and expressions while also offering them opportunities to explore food according to different world cultures. Focusing on food as a teaching tool also increases student engagement and motivation, as it taps into a topic that is relevant and interesting to many learners. Food activities can also prompt discussions about healthy eating habits.
1. Comparing Nutrition Labels
Reading nutrition labels is a skill that all students should learn. As they learn to speak and understand the English language, nutrition labels can initially be challenging yet being exposed to and deciphering various labels makes for excellent practice.
Learn More: Homeschool Scientist
2. Food Charades
For this game, divide students into teams. Each player will have a turn acting out a scene pertaining to food and eating. For example, one student may act as if they are biting an apple and their classmates will try to guess what they are doing.
Learn More: Everything Mom
3. Food Vocabulary Relay
After splitting students into small groups, write the letters A through Z on poster board and display them around the room. Students will write one word for each letter of the alphabet relating to food. The first group that completes all 26 letters correctly wins a prize!
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4. Food Sorting
Students will use printable flashcards to sort each food item into a category. You can use any food category of your choice such as meat, fruits, vegetables, and desserts. You can use a graphic organizer to guide students with sorting.
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5. Food Tasting
Bring in different types of food for students to taste and describe. This can be a fun way to introduce new vocabulary and food-related adjectives. Encourage students to tell a classmate which food they enjoyed the most.
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6. Recipe Swap
Invite students to share their favorite recipes from their home countries with the class. Reward bonus points for students who can bring in the finished product for classmates to try. This will allow students to learn more about the cultures of their classmates.
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7. Design a Food Truck
Students will design their own food truck using this printable template. Encourage students to name their food truck and create a menu of the food they would like to serve. They can work individually or in small groups to encourage teamwork skills.
Learn More: Make and Takes
8. Grocery Store Challenge
This activity can be done while physically shopping at the grocery store, or by visiting an online grocery ordering website. Students will be tasked with finding specific items based on their descriptions.
Learn More: The Simple Parent
9. Food Debate
Divide the class into two teams and have them debate different food-related topics. For example, ask students “Should macaroni and cheese be eaten with a spoon or a fork?” and encourage them to use specific vocabulary words in their responses.
Learn More: We Are Teachers
10. Food Item Memory Game
This game is similar to the traditional game of “memory”. You will place all the food cards facing down. Students will flip over one card at a time and announce the food item as they uncover them. The goal is to find a matching pair for each item.
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11. Which foods go together?
This activity focuses on food word associations. Give students a word related to food and have them come up with as many related words as they can. For example, say “peanut butter” and students will likely respond with “jelly” or “jam”.
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12. Food Journal
Food journaling is beneficial for helping students become more health-conscious with their consumption choices. They will write down foods they eat that are specific to breakfast, lunch, and dinner before sharing their journals with classmates at the end of each day or week.
Learn More: The Homeschool Scientist
13. Dinner Conversation Storytelling
Students will observe an animated dialogue that models acceptable dinner conversations. The video is designed for English language learners and provides opportunities for learners to repeat the phrases throughout the video. Following the video, have students share a story that is dinner table-approved.
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14. Cooking Q&A
Cooking vocabulary is important for everyone to know. This resource includes a variety of terms and questions you can use when teaching students about food. I would recommend having students work in pairs to enhance their cooperation skills.
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15. Food Crossword Puzzle
Food-themed crossword puzzles are fun and educational. Students will use the clues to fill in the appropriate food item for each answer. This activity encourages them to learn the names of specific foods and practice accurate spelling.
Learn More: ESL Vault
16. Food Bingo
Create Bingo cards with different types of food and have students mark off each item as you call them out. The first player to identify five correct items in a row will win the round. I would recommend incorporating food-related prizes for the winners.
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17. Baking Vocabulary
This video reviews the vocabulary associated with baking. I would recommend using a graphic organizer for students to fill in the blank while watching the video. A great follow-up activity would be to have students record themselves baking cookies at home.
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18. Menu Planning
Provide a list of healthy food options and have students plan out a balanced menu for a day or a week. Give students guidelines from the resource, such as focusing on making the vegetable portion the largest part of the meal.
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19. Food Vocabulary Quiz
Have students take an online quiz to test their knowledge of food names. They will use the drop-down menu to select the appropriate name for each picture shown. Allow them to work in pairs to support each other’s understanding.
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20. Which Food Doesn’t Belong?
Students will identify the foods that do not belong in each food group. For example, a card may show pictures of a strawberry, orange, banana, and egg. The item that doesn’t belong is the egg because the other items are fruit.
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21. Restaurant Dialogue Practice
Ordering at a restaurant may be intimidating for an English language learner. We can help students feel more prepared for this experience by having them explore a restaurant menu and practice asking relevant questions. Students can role-model for one another to reinforce their learning.
Learn More: ESL Flow
22. Write a Conversation about Food
Provide students with a list of food-related phrases and challenge them to write a script of a conversation between two people talking about food. An example is provided for students to use as a guide. Possible phrases include “smells good”, and “favorite dish”.
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23. Tips for Describing Food
There are specific adjectives that are used in the English language for describing food. Write down phrases and cut them out on pieces of paper. Then, hand out phrases to students along with various food pictures and invite them to match the phrase to a picture.
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24. Food Pyramid Activity
This resource includes interactive books for teaching students about the food pyramid. The food groups explored are grains, vegetables, dairy, fruits, and proteins. There are also digital versions of the books to use with online English learners.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
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