What could make a perfect gift to show your love? Valentine’s hearts?Sweet, but a little bit cliche.How about potatoes? Nothing says “I love you” like a potato!

https://eltcation.wordpress.com/2016/02/05/valentines-day-scavenger-hunt/

It might seem a weird idea, but not in the eyes of entrepreneurs at MysteryPotato.com, who believe that “potatoes are simple and bring joy and confusion like you would not believe” (well, after the infamous photo of the most photogenic potato ever has been sold for one million dollars, it is more than believable) and offer to send potatoes with customized messages to your beloved ones (read more here)…Potatoes are in the air.

This is just one of the ideas, but there are many more in cultures around the world that have adapted and put their own spin on Valentine’s traditions.

This Scavenger Hunt activity is built around interesting traditions of the annual celebration of love from across the globe and rather unusual (and, in some cases, bizarre) gifts and symbols of love.

We will use 7 texts about traditions in Wales, China, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Denmark, and Japan – Scavenger Hunt. Print them out and place them around the classroom.

STEP 1.

“Pre-hunt”: Show (the photo of) a potato and ask your students how they could use it for Valentine’s Day (Think-pair-share).

Would they give it as a gift?

Show some photos from the MysteryPotato website. Brainstorm what symbolizes love and makes a typical gift/gifts in your students’ culture/cultures.

Tell your students that you will show the images associated with love and love holidays across the world. After each image, ask students to guess how it could relate to love and Valentine’s Day.

http://www.slideshare.net/lanakandy/valentines-day-scavenger-hunt?ref=https://eltcation.wordpress.com/2016/02/05/valentines-day-scavenger-hunt/

STEP 2. 

Pair up students (or split them into small teams) and give them the list of images (see below) that should be matched to the texts with descriptions of Valentine’s Day (or similar romantic holidays) in the texts around the classroom. Point out that one text is odd. The numbers in the boxes refer to the number of the letter in the name of the country. Once they get all the letters, they should make a word (related to love) with these letters.

Tip:

Your students may choose any strategy to win (work individually by assigning texts to their team members/partner, or work as a whole team). However, make it explicit that to win each and every member in their team should be able to explain how each image relates to love and romantic holidays. Give them enough time to share their findings with their teams.

List_Scavenger Hunt

Answers:

1. Denmark – e
2. South Korea – r
3. Slovenia – a
4. South Africa – t
5. China – h
6. Wales – s

Word: hearts

STEP 3.

The first team who makes the word (related to love) wins. Have a feedback session.

You might also wish to explore 10 heart idioms, or 10 love idioms.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all teachers with a teaching heart!:)