About This Activity

Overview

Restaurant Order Cards is a speaking activity that offers students a fun way to practice restaurant vocabulary words, including size adjectives and some food related measure words.

Even complete English beginners will be able to play this game after memorizing as few as 4 vocabulary words.

Currently, there are 3 sets of 18 cards available for this game.

This is a deduction card game with a different combination of restaurant food on each card. Players need to use their verbal skills to deduce which of the character on the cards laid out in front of them matches the character on the "secret card" in their activity partner's possession, by using the sentence structure "Did you order _________________?"

 

Activity Presentation Phase Instructions

 

Food Order Example Card

Food Order Card
w/ 1 Order of Fries,
2 Cheeseburgers,
and 1 Drink

 

Food Order Example Card

Food Order Card
w/ 2 Hamburgers,
1 Cheeseburger,
and 1 Drink

 

Food Order Example Card

Food Order Card
w/ 1 Triple Cheeseburgers
2 Double Cheeseburgers,
and 1 Drink

 

 

Download Game Materials

 

 

How To Play

Groups: This game is best played in pairs of two participants. One participant in each group will be the asker and the other will be the answerer.

Materials: Two identical sets of 18 Restaurant Order Cards are needed for each pair of two participants. This means two sets of Set A, two sets of Set B, or two sets of Set C.

Time / Game Round: 1-3 minutes

 

  • The asker should lay out one set of game cards in front of them and the answerer should draw one "secret card" from an identical set of cards. The "secret card" will therefore match one of the 18 cards laid out in front of the asker.

  • The answerer can look at the "secret card," but they aren't allowed to show it to the asker. The asker can only learn what is included in the restaurant order on the "secret card" by asking verbal questions.

  • The asker's GOAL is to narrow down which of the 18 cards in front of them matches the "secret card" possessed by the answerer.

    The asker treats the answerer as the character named on the answerer's card. The answerer will answer the asker's questions as if he or she is the actual character on the card.

    To collect information, the asker can use the sentence pattern "Did you order _________________?" and systematically insert different vocabulary into the blank in the sentence pattern.

  • Based on the answerer's 'yes/no' answers, the asker can "eliminate" any cards that logically can't match the "secret card" held by the answerer. The best way to "eliminate" the non-matching cards, is to flip them over face-down. Then the asker can continue to ask more questions to further narrow down the remaining "face-up cards."

  • Each round of the game continues until the asker has narrowed down the cards in front of them to just one card. They can then ask the answerer, "Is this your order?" and insert the remaining character's name into the blank.

 

For more detailed instructions for how to print, prepare, and introduce card-based deduction games like this one, click the blue button below.

 

How To Play

 

Printing & Preparation Instructions

 

 

Words to Learn Before Playing

The Core Vocabulary Words listed below are all words that students should learn BEFORE playing this game. Students will only need to learn the words listed for Set A to play this game with that set of cards. However, to play the game with Set B, students will need to learn the words for both Set A and Set B. Likewise, to play the game with Set C, students will need to learn the words for Set C and all previous sets.

 

Core Vocabulary Words Used in Activity
Card Set A (18 Cards) cheeseburger, drink, fries, hamburger
Card Set B (18 Cards) single, double, triple
Card Set C (18 Cards)  large, small

 

 

Words to Learn While Playing

The following words will be used to the play this game (with every available set of cards). However, these words don't need to be pre-taught. These words can and should be learned WHILE playing the game.

 

Vocabulary Best Learned In Context
Used With All Sets did, I, no, not, order (noun), order (verb), yes, you

 

 

Sentence Patterns to Use While Playing

The following sentences and sentence patterns are recommended for use while playing this game. The best way to teach these sentences, is to use them in context while introducing the game and demonstrating how to play it. Each set of cards will also use the sentences/sentence patterns from the preceding sets. For example, Set C will use all of the sentence and sentence patterns listed for Set A, Set B, and Set C.

 

Set A Sentences and Sentence Patterns
Did you order a drink/hamburger/cheeseburger? / Did you order 2 drinks/hamburgers/cheeseburgers?
Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.
Did you order 1 order of fries? / Did you order 2 orders of fries?
Is this your order?

 

 

Set B Sentences and Sentence Patterns
Did you order a single/double/triple cheeseburger/hamburger? / Did you order 2 single/double/triple cheeseburgers/hamburgers?
Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.

 

 

Set C Sentences and Sentence Patterns
Did you order a small/big drink? / Did you order 2 small/large drinks?
Yes, I did. / No, I didn't.