A Fun & Eco-Friendly Classroom Activity for Teaching Comparative Adjectives

Eco-friendly classroom poster made from leftover wallpaper to help students build comparative adjective sentences in a fun, hands-on way.

 

Teaching comparative adjectives can be a challenge, especially with younger learners who need something hands-on and visual to stay engaged. This year, I decided to combine creativity, recycling, and grammar practice by making a comparison poster using leftover wallpaper—and it turned out to be one of my students’ favorite activities!

Why I Created This Poster

I wanted a reusable, interactive tool that would help students build comparison sentences step by step. Something they could touch, move, flip, and manipulate—not just look at on the board. And since I happened to have some old wallpaper left in a drawer, it became the perfect base for a durable and eye-catching poster.

 

What the Poster Includes

To make sentence building simple and fun, I added several components:

• Sticky notes for a/an and is/are:
  These can be flipped depending on the sentence the students create. The flexibility helps them practice grammar structures naturally.

• A permanent “than”:
  I added “than” directly to the poster because it never changes in a comparative sentence. This helps students internalize the structure:
  (a/an) + animal + is/are + adjective + than + (a/an) + animal

• A frame for animal flashcards:
  Students choose which animals they want to compare and place them in the frame.

• A frame for adjective cards:
  I prepared cards with the target adjectives: bigger, smaller, taller, shorter, fatter, and thinner. Students can easily swap them to build new sentences.

• A wipeable writing strip at the bottom:
  I added a strip of tape so learners can write their final sentence using whiteboard markers. When they’re done, they simply erase it and start again.

How Students Use It

Students love the freedom and creativity of this activity. They pick two animals, choose an adjective, adjust the sticky notes, and practice forming their sentence. Then they copy it onto the writing strip, read it aloud, compare with classmates, and erase it to try something new.

It makes grammar feel like a game, and the physical movement helps reinforce the language patterns.

Why This Activity Works

• Hands-on learning keeps students engaged.

• Visual structure supports understanding of word order.

• Repetition with variation helps them master comparatives.

• Eco-friendly materials show students how easy it is to reuse items creatively.

Plus, the poster can be used again and again with different groups and levels.

 

 

Final Thoughts

This simple DIY poster made from leftover wallpaper has become one of the most effective tools in my classroom. It’s interactive, sustainable, and gives students endless opportunities to practice comparative adjectives in a fun and meaningful way.

If you’re looking for an activity that brings grammar to life—and doesn’t require fancy materials—this is definitely worth trying!