eslHQ - Crepe Shop for Kindergartners

Sometimes, flashcards and cold dialog practice just aren't appropriate for younger learners. They need games, with tangible items that make them forget they are in a classroom or learning English.

One of the things I have made for my classes to solve this problem was a felt and laminated paper crepe shop.

Children line up and purchase crepes with fake money, while another student “makes” the crepes out of yellow felt pancakes, white tissue paper “whipped cream” and laminated slices of fruit.

The point of the game is dialog practice, but it also helps the children learn to wait their turn, do things in proper order and pay close attention to what another person says (there are four possible crepes choices). The kids have really loved it, and I hope to branch off soon and create a burger, cake, ice cream and yakitori stand in the near future as well.

The typical dialog for this stand is:

"Welcome! What would you like?"
"(flavor) crepe, please."
"Ok!" (students "cooks" the crepe) "500 yen please."
"Ok, here you are." (hands correct money to server)
"Thank you, here you are." (server hands customer crepe)
"Thank you!" (pretends to eat) "Yummy!"
"Come again~!"