Crazy Comparatives is a simple activity to practice comparatives with your class. It can be used with most levels.

Preparation

Prepare a set of flashcards. On each one have a noun which will be used for comparison. You should make as many as you can and there’s no need to have the nouns related.

Remember to make the nouns applicable to the class and of the right level!

Explaining the Activity

In class, go over comparatives to make sure the class is familiar with forming them. Then take two cards at random and invite different students to make comparisons between the two nouns. The more inventive they can be, the better.

Suppose you pick a picture of a small car and a sausage. With prompting you might get these responses:

The car is bigger than the sausage.

The sausage is hotter than the car.

The sausage is tastier than the car.

The car is faster than the sausage.

Advanced classes may well be able to produce highly inventive comparisons:

The sausage is more digestible than the car.

The car is roomier than the sausage.

And so on.

Running the Activity

Divide the class into two teams. Randomly choose a student from each team and have them stand up. Then pick two cards at random and hold them up. The first student to call out a valid comparison gets a point for their team.

If the students are having difficulties or their sentence isn’t structured properly they can call on their team to help out.

You can also offer bonus points for particularly good comparisons. This allows both students to score in some instances.

And then move on to two more cards and two more students.