English language learners will love these super fun ESL shopping game ideas. I am constantly on the lookout for new things I can use to teach my students when learning new vocabulary, speaking terms and grammar and more.
There are hardly any ESL materials for students to use, especially adult students or mature students.
The range of students I teach are between elementary ages and they go all up to high school and adults.
Shopping ESL Lesson Plan PDF
This bundle of printable shopping activities will have your ESL students role playing, sorting the items into the correct shop items and more.
My students particularily love the role plays.
They get to ask their classmates questions and record their answers.
Getting the students to mix and ask questions to English only speaking students is so beneficial to them too.
If students only speak Chinese as a first language and they’re paired with another classmate who speaks Chinese, well, guess what’s going to happen?
You bet, they will speak to each other in Chinese and hence won’t get the full benefit of learning to use the English language to communicate.
How to differentiate activities for your ESL learners.
This activity in the bundle can be played in pairs or a group. I like getting my students to find the words in the dictionary first, then they will sort the items into the correct shops.
Apples go under ‘supermarket’ and soap goes under ‘chemist’. There are some items that will go under the same headings and that’s okay. Explain to the students that you can buy some items in several stores.
** Pick up these FREE printables at the end of this post.
Play shopping games with brain teasers like this printable below. This one will incorporate their numeracy skills by working out which will be the cheaper option to opt for when trying to get a deal.
This is a great adult ESL lesson plan too.
Shopping role play activities
I like to expand on this point and have the students pair up and work out some more fun deals from the supermarket.
Here are some ideas to incorporate real-world scenarios to help your ESL students learn and apply their skills to the outside world.
I would get some pamphlets or supermarket marketing materials with prices on them.
The ones you would get when you buy from the store. The photocopy these and have the students do these role play activities:
- pretend you are selling the oranges and pears. Your classmate wants to buy 3 oranges and 2 pears. Role play this game and write down what you would each say to make the purchase.
- You can have a sample role play written on the board too, to guide the students in how they will complete it. An example is written below.
Shopping role play sample:
Customer: Hi
Sales assistant: Hello, how can I help you?
A: I would like 3 oranges please.
B: Sure, each orange is $2 today.
A: Yes, thank you. And I would also like 2 pears. How much are the pears?
B: These are $1.49 each.
A: Thank you, how much is it altogether?
B: That would be $9.98 altogether.
ESL Beginner Shopping Lesson
This what can you see printable worksheets are perfect for beginners and ESL learners who are new to learning the language.
They get to work on grammar there is and there are concepts along with vocabulary skills related to shopping.
Some more ESL games and printables you might like:
- Best Books for ESL Teachers (and how to find them)
- 10 Fantastic ESL Warm Up Activities Low Prep Printables
- Interactive Online Games ESL Learners Will LOVE (Make Your Own with Baamboozle)
- 5 Classic ESL Word Games Your Students Will Love
ESL Shopping Game Printable Pack
Click on the direct link below to download this pack in Canva and print it out.
