Fun Printable Pretend Play Food in English, Chinese, and Korean
A few years ago, I made these pretend play food printables for my kids in English, Chinese, and Korean, our family’s 3 languages. Over the years, these food printables have given both my daughter and son hours of fun learning!
10 educational ways to learn with play food!
Here are just a few ways that our kids have played with our food printables in English, Chinese, and Korean!
- Match with REAL food!!! It’s so important that kids develop strong understanding of items in real life!
- Shopping – practice grocery store vocabulary
- Cooking with pots and pans
- Eating
- Match different language versions (eg, simplified and traditional Chinese; English and Chinese; Chinese and Korean)
- Sort food by color
- Compare more healthy food versus less healthy
- Sort by food group (fruit, vegetables, protein, grains, desserts)
- Plant the play food printables in a pretend garden
- Discuss food allergies and symptoms
Of course, the best way to learn about real food is through shopping, cooking, and eating! (And of course gardening if you have that opportunity.) The multi-sensorial experience of the kitchen is always a fun way to bond and boost language for any family.
However, my pretend play food “flashcards” help us create a print-rich environment, especially for our minority languages. On each play food, the names are clearly visible, and the definition is obvious by the shape of the food.
To help your family have fun learning, I’m excited to share the printable play food with you in English, Chinese, and Korean!
From paper craft to reusable printable pretend play food
When my first child was younger, the play food printables were inspired by her curiosity about food. We created a cutting and pasting food craft shown in the photo below.
At that time, I used this activity to teach food names in Chinese. At the top of each page was a sentence for her to practice reading Chinese characters.
Since we try to follow the one person, one language method, our nanny helped her with learning Korean translations and reading simple Korean words.
At that time, my daughter was obsessed with cutting, and this was a wonderful opportunity to practice scissor skills with various shapes!
When she started to use the paper food cut outs for pretend shopping, I realized that I should create a more durable version of this activity.
The laminated play food printables have lasted more than 5 years. I’m so thankful that it’s been a fun way to encourage my children to play and speak their minority languages.
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Download printable play food
Common food names in Chinese and Korean
Here are Chinese and Korean translations for each of the foods on the printables. Carrots, corn, and peppers are repeated a few times since these foods naturally come in different colors. All of these translations are included with Pinyin and Zhuyin in the printable file.
Red-colored food
- Apple: 苹果 / 蘋果 (Píngguǒ), 사과
- Cherry: 樱桃 / 櫻桃 (Yīngtáo), 체리
- Hot pepper: 辣椒 (Làjiāo), 칠레 고추
- Red pepper: 红椒 / 紅椒 (Hóng jiāo), 피망
- Strawberry: 草莓 (Cǎoméi), 딸기
- Tomato: 西红柿 (Xīhóngshì), 토마토
- Watermelon: 西瓜 (Xīguā), 수박
Orange-colored food
- Carrot: 胡萝卜 (胡蘿蔔 Húluóbo), 당근
- Clementine: 橘子 (Júzi), 귤
- Orange: 橙子 (Chéngzi), 오렌지
- Pepper: 胡椒 (Hújiāo), 피망
- Pumpkin: 南瓜 (Nánguā), 호박
- Yam: 甘薯 / 甘藷 (Gānshǔ), 고구마
Yellow-colored food
- Banana: 香蕉 (Xiāngjiāo), 바나나
- Carrot: 胡萝卜 / 胡蘿蔔 (Húluóbo), 당근
- Cheese: 奶酪 (Nǎilào), 치즈
- Corn: 玉米 (Yùmǐ), 옥수수
- Lemon: 柠檬 / 檸檬 (Níngméng), 레몬
- Pear: 梨子 (Lízi), 배
Green-colored food
- Broccoli: 西兰花 / 西蘭花 (Xī lánhuā), 브로콜리
- Cucumber: 黄瓜 / 黃瓜 (Huángguā), 오이
- Edamame: 毛豆 (Máodòu), 에다마메
- Green pepper: 青椒 (Qīngjiāo), 피망
- Lime: 酸橙 (Suān chéng), 라임
- Peas: 豌豆 (Wāndòu), 완두콩
- Spinach: 菠菜 (Bōcài), 시금치
Blue-colored food
- Blueberry: 蓝莓 / 藍莓 (Lánméi), 블루 베리
- Fish: 鱼 / 魚 (Yú), 생선
- Popsicle: 冰棒 (Bīngbàng), 아이스 팝
Purple-colored food
- Carrot: 胡萝卜 / 胡蘿蔔 (Húluóbo), 당근
- Corn: 玉米 (Yùmǐ), 옥수수
- Eggplant: 茄子 (Qiézi), 가지
- Grape: 葡萄 (Pútáo), 포도
- Plum: 李子 (Lǐzǐ), 자두
Brown-colored food (some of these can also be white)
- Bread: 面包 / 麵包 (Miànbāo), 빵
- Chicken: 鸡腿 / 雞腿 (Jītuǐ), 닭고기
- Cookie: 饼干 / 餅乾 (Bǐnggān), 크래커
- Hamburger: 汉堡 / 漢堡 (Hànbǎo), 햄버거
- Ice cream: 冰淇淋 (Bīngqílín), 아이스크림
- Potato: 土豆 (Tǔdòu), 감자
Other supplies for the printable play food
- Colorful paper
- White paper
- Printer
- Laminator and laminating pouches
- Scissors
- Divided tray – we repurposed a tray that came with our Melissa and Doug vehicles set; we’ve also used a divided serving platter
- Plain bowls and plates – we use the Avanchy baby food set that my kids use for play since it’s too small for eating
- Toy pots/pans – we love this Melissa and Doug set!
*If you’re planning to laminate, cardstock paper is not recommended because it would be too thick and difficult to cut.
How to set up the printable pretend food activity
- Print the black-and-white templates on colorful paper as indicated on the translation sheets.
- Laminate each sheet
- Cut outside of the black lines
Due to the irregular edges of the play food, we recommend spreading out the cutting over a few days. For example, cut and focus on red-colored food. Then prepare orange food, yellow food, etc.
Language teaching tips
- Introduce new words gradually by comparing with read food and/or realistic drawings of related food.
- For example, focus on red foods only; then add orange foods when the child seems familiar with most red foods.
- Have your child touch, smell, and taste the real food while showing them the play food printable.
- Present the food flashcards as an invitation to play
- Display play food on a tray with bowls and toy pots/pans as if you are serving a nice meal! If the set up is attractive and enticing, your child will naturally be curious!
- Kids will likely have their own ideas, so consider their plan, too.
- Note that our bowls, pots, pans, and trays are all plain. This allows the food and words to stand out.
- Through pretend play, kids are naturally looking at the flashcards repeatedly. Therefore, they have a better chance at memorizing Chinese characters, Korean words, and English names (depending on language version) through frequent exposure.
Get the printable play food in English, Chinese, and Korean!
More hands-on learning activities
If your kids enjoyed the food printables, they will love our pretend play clothing printables in English, Chinese, and Korean!
Fun and useful resources for learning about food
- 25+ Great Books About Food in Chinese and English
- Playdough Mooncakes – Mid-Autumn Festival Activity with Recipe!
- Kids Water, Snack, and Self-Care Station Makes Life Easier for Everyone
Hi love these ideas to – and looking forward to trying with my kids.
Hi Betty,
I love this post and I made some for my kids. Thank you so much for sharing.
I would say lime is 青柠 instead of 酸橙 🙂
I really love your printables and all your wonderful ideas.
This is so clever, enticing and fun! I wanna do this myself! Thank you
Thank you so much, Olivia! I hope your family can enjoy them together! 🙂