Inside: Paper plate activities for Spanish class. Fun paper plate games for any class. Paper plate team building activities.
Make Do With Paper Plates
Here is a fun fact about me. For five summers while in college, I was a summer camp counselor all over the world. If you have ever been a summer camp counselor, director, or supervisor, you know it is often about making do with what you have.
Your center is under construction so you get to spend the summer in a school cafeteria with super limited supplies. Or the field trip bus does not show up so you need to entertain 100 elementary school kids with nothing but your mental bag of tricks. Just like being a teacher, you have to work with what you have.
So what do paper plate activities have to do with this?
When given limited supplies, you can do an infinite amount of paper plate crafts and paper plate games. Even as a teacher, I found myself with a filing cabinet full of cheap paper plates. This is how The Plate Sketch Game, and Positive Plates team-building activity were born. So get yourself a stack of the cheapest paper plates out there and try out these fun paper plate activities in class. (Or if you do not have access to plates, many of these activities could be completed on cardstock or a mini whiteboard if needed).
Paper Plate Games
Positive Plates team-building activity
I came up with and originally posted about the Positive Plates team-building activity in 2017. If you want to learn all about it, the blog post has all of the details.
Students tape a plate on each other’s backs and get a pen or thin marker. As a class, brainstorm positive adjectives on the board that can be used as compliments.
Then students walk around the room and write anonymous positive things about every other person on their plates. They do not look at their own until the end. They should try and write something that has not already been written. It ended up with a whole line of writing with one group. If you wanted it to be more organized, you could do an inside/outside circle and then switch. I let them wander around to get some extra movement in.
In the end, students take off their plates and read all of the nice things people write about them. These are theirs to keep.
Plate Sketch Game
In 2014 I first used and blogged about The Plate Sketch Game, which I learned about from Cynthia Hitz. I used it as a Winter Holiday game where you have a paper plate and draw on your head. I have since used this blind drawing activity as a review of a novel chapter or story.
- Instruct students that once the game starts they place the plate on their head and DO NOT LOOK AT IT.
- Students draw what is described without looking.
- At the end, give students “points” for having things make sense, like a star on top of the tree, etc.
- To extend it you can give awards for the best, goofiest, worst, etc. Students could present their drawing in Spanish and try to describe why their plate should “win”
Plate Disc Golf
Take learning outdoors or to a large common space with a paper plate disc golf game. Assign questions or challenges to different “holes” represented by paper plates. Students can throw a frisbee or a strong paper plate to the designated plate hole. Then they answer the question in Spanish or complete the challenge. This active and collaborative game combines movement with learning Spanish.
Paper Plate Crafts
No, making a craft is not directly related to language acquisition. But, one day spent doing a fun cultural craft while listening to music in Spanish or watching a movie can give everyone a much-needed break. If needed, you can extend any craft to have students chat about them, present about them, or write about the craft in Spanish. Or a cultural craft is perfect for Exploratory Spanish or Culture & Civilization class.
Paper Plate Masks
A great activity to go along with Carnaval is making paper plate masks. Depending on how messy you want to get you get get out paints, glue, and a variety of craft supplies like glitter. (I mean we are talking about carnaval!). Or you can keep it safer with paper plates and markers.
Let students design their masks, allowing for self-expression. This activity is not only artistic but also an excellent way to explore different cultures through mask-making. Use YouTube to show a variety of traditional masks. Then students could speak or write about their masks.
Paper Plate Clocks: Practice Time Telling in Spanish
Transform paper plates into interactive clocks for a hands-on lesson in time-telling. If you are required to teach about telling time in Spanish class, this is way more fun than a telling time Spanish worksheet.
Have students draw numbers on the paper plate and attach movable clock hands with a Brad fastener. Making a paper plate clock is a fun and effective way to teach time concepts in Spanish. Students can practice setting the clock to specific hours and minutes, and work with a partner to quiz them on the time.
Spanish Food Unit – Paper Plate Meals
If you a required to do a traditional food unit, there are multiple activities you can do with paper plates. One idea is for students to draw and label a traditional plate from a specific Spanish-speaking place. make sure that many Spanish-speaking places are included. That way you can see the diversity of cooking and country-specific foods, such as paella in Spain and arepas in Venezuela/Colombia.
Then to get more Spanish language, set up a gallery walk. Have half of the students around the room with their plates. The other half walks around and asks questions in Spanish about the traditional meals. To take it a step further, students could bring in a traditional dish to share.
Looking for more Spanish class activities? Read Fun Spanish Classroom Games to Increase Engagement
>> Practice Writing in Spanish Class
>> Speaking Activities for Spanish Class
Paper plates offer many possibilities for creative and educational Spanish classroom activities. By incorporating these ideas into your teaching repertoire, you’ll not only enhance the learning experience but also make lasting memories for your students. Get ready for a plateful of fun and learning in your classroom!
