Halloween Language Tricks and Treats

spice up your language therapy with these spooky Halloween activities

The Frenzied SLPs are back! This time we are sharing Halloween Tricks and Tips for Language :) Your therapy room will be loaded with fun, just in time for Halloween on Saturday! I started using Halloween activities in my room last week, and here's what has been successful.

Green Ooze! This was a super fun project that I was able to complete with a couple students last week, and will use with the rest of my older students this week. It's a great activity for following directions, sequencing, and making descriptions about the texture, smell, feel, and behavior of the ooze. If you'd like to make your own, here's an instruction sheet with visuals that I put together. This was so. much. FUN!

For the past couple years I've made a masking tape spider web on the floor during the week of Halloween. This is a reinforcement game students can play while they practice any therapy goal. I added point pumpkins and ghosts throughout the web and had students toss glow-in-the-dark spiders. If the spiders hit or land on any pumpkin or the ghost, students get that many points. So easy and simple, but the kiddos LOVE it.

Another perfect activity for this time of year is Ned's Head! My students can't get enough of this gross game and all the disgusting items packed inside Ned's noggin. I love to use this game to talk about making thorough descriptions of objects. We talk about the features of all the items inside - size, shape, soft/hard, does it have legs, will it be flat or bumpy, etc. We also look at the cards first and predict how those items will feel so they can be more successful at picking out their object.

S.L.A.P. for Halloween: I created this packet so I could use it with every language goal on my caseload - following directions, inferences, vocabulary, synonyms/antonyms/multiple meaning words, categories, plural nouns, past-tense verbs, story sequencing, compare/contrast, barrier game - it's loaded! Bonus - it's almost completely black and white printing!

These Sentences are Scaaary: This is a semantic absurdities packet, and my students have loooved it this year! Each student gets a sorting mat, then they draw a card and correct the semantic error in the sentence. If they get it correct, they can add the card to their mat. First student to fill up their entire mat is the winner!

Spooky Spiders Halloween Words: Need some seasonal vocabulary ideas? This packet has lots of great new Halloween words to learn, and they are sorted by phoneme in case you have some articulation students in your groups. I've been helping students look up the definition of their card, then they have to teach the rest of the group what their word means. Sometimes we draw definitions of our words on the back of the cards. You can also put the cards in a pile and play an open-ended game.

Build a Monster Play-Doh Mats (from The Speech Bubble SLP): My preschoolers and early elementary kiddos had a blast with this one. It's great for following directions, number sense, identifying colors, basic concepts, and body parts.

Apps: Don't forget apps - there are so many great ones! I especially love Mask Jumble Halloween, SagoMini Monsters, Millie's Book of Tricks and Treats, and Parents Magazine Carve-A-Pumpkin.

Thanks so much to Doyle Speech Works , Twin Speech Language & Literacy LLC, and All Y'all Need for hosting this linky. If you'd like to add your own ideas, feel free to join using the link below. The linky will run through October 30th. Happy Halloween!

An InLinkz Link-up

Frenzied SLPs: Fall Articulation Ideas

quick and easy activities for articulation practice this autumn season

Hi! Twice each month, The Frenzied SLPs collaborate to bring you oodles of ideas and suggestions related to a specific speech pathology topic. This time, I'm so thrilled to be joining The Frenzied SLPs with ideas for Fall-themed articulation practice!

I share my time between two different buildings, so I prefer to use activities that involve minimal prep. And with articulation students, I want to make the most of our time together and pack in tons of practice. Let me show you some things we've done this season...

- Die Cuts: I love using the school's die cut machine for seasonal activities. This year I cut out leaf shapes in various colors and had students write fall-themed articulation words on the leaves. They could take these home for extra practice.

- Tech Search: Look through a book or do a "fall"/"autumn" Google image search. How many Autumn-related words can you find that contain your target phonemes?

- Leaf Rubbings: Bring the outdoors in with leaf rubbings! You can write artic words on the leaf veins and students can have art and artic practice all in one.

- Hide and Seek: I cut out pumpkin shapes (using that handy die-cut machine again!) and wrote fall-themed articulation words on each side, then hid them around the room. For groups, each student could only collect the pumpkins that had his/her target sound.

- Go for a Walk: Enjoy the last of our beautiful warm weather before winter comes. Look for things around you which contain target speech sounds.

- Don't Spill the Beans: I don't know about you, but in my therapy room this is one of the most requested games of all time. At Easter we used real jelly beans to play the game; try using candy corn or autumn-colored M&Ms this month. Students have to practice their sounds before each turn.

- Craftivity: Paper plate crafts are always a favorite of mine (see here, and here, and here!). This year we made fall wreaths. Sometimes students wrote their target words on the leaves, and others we just left plain and practiced our targets while we crafted.

- Carryover: For students who are moving towards generalization of their speech sounds, try playing the I'm Going on a Picnic game, but change it to "I'm Going on a Hayride" or "I'm Going to the Pumpkin Patch".

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Don't forget to go back to the Frenzied SLPs and read everyone else's fun fall ideas! The link-up this month starts at Doyle Speech Works. Feel free to link up your own ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

A Plump and Perky Turkey {book companion}

I have a new Thanksgiving book companion up in my store to go along with the book A Plump and Perky Turkey (by Teresa Bateman)! This is such a cute book about a town in need of a turkey for their feast, and their attempt to trick one into joining them!

This packet is so 'plump' from all the fun inside! If you need any last-minute activities, I've got you covered! This packet has a huge variety of activities appropriate for any subject, and many of the pages are print-and-go, so you won't have a lot of prep to do!

Comprehension Questions (answers included)

Story Retell Prompts

Thanksgiving Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle

Compare/Contrast

Match the pictures that begin with the same sound.

This is a fun mini-book full of turkeys in disguise!

Have your students write about what they are thankful for.

Reusable tic-tac-toe board

Use the code to discover the secret message.

Open-ended Reinforcement Game:
collect all the turkeys and feathers in your color to win.

...and MORE!!

This packet can be found in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Get excited, because you can save $1 on this packet through November 28th!

Fall-ing Into Fantastic Speech

a new activity packet full of fall/autumn-themed speech and language activities

Hey you guys! I am so sorry for being absent from the blog the past couple weeks. I have been so completely busy with work, family, and personal activities that I have had almost no time to write, create, and blog. (As evidenced by the 519 unread blog posts I have to catch up on Bloglovin' right now!)

But I'm back, and finally had time to finish up the fall-themed activity packet I have been working on for over a month now. I hope you enjoy it!

This rather large packet includes all sorts of goodies:

**"Where's the Pumpkin?" book targeting preposition words

**What Does Not Belong cards:

**Roll, Say, and Color pages targeting the following sounds: /sh, ch/; /f, v/; /k, g/; /l/; /s/ blends; /th/

**Jack-o-Lantern Glyph - answer the wh-questions, then follow the key to decorate your own pumpkin!

**Multiple Reinforcement Activities including a word search, leaf/tree cut and paste, open-ended board games, and open-ended apple card game.

...and more! You can get this plump packet for yourself in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! Enjoy 20% off until November 1st!! Since fall is such an awesome season, I'm going to give away two copies of this packet to you, my awesome and faithful readers! Just enter the Rafflecopter below! Good luck and HAPPY FALL, Y'ALL!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dollar Store Dash Linky Party

see what I got for $5 at the dollar store, and what I'm going to do with my loot

The Dollar Store is a wonderful resource for inexpensive therapy materials, office items, and stocking up your prize box :) Teach Speech 365 came up with a super fun idea of a Dollar Store Dash! The challenge: spend $5 at the dollar store, and then share how you will use your money-saving items in therapy. Challenge accepted!

1. car/animal erasers
I plan on using these during themed units. Have students pull them out of a garbage can and name the vocabulary (I work with preschoolers...). When not working on transportation or animal themes, we will use these erasers as board game tokens.

2. simple animal puzzles
I thought these were so cute! Basic, 4-5 piece puzzles that will not be too challenging with my preschoolers. I can also write on the backs of the pieces and the base for matching vocabulary, articulation drills, etc.

3. medication reminder boxes
I can place articulation words, wh-questions, vocabulary words, probe words, etc. in this with random stickers/rewards in a couple compartments (per this idea here). I can't wait to decorate the box better so kids can't see what's inside (and so it's cuter!). NOTE: I don't use food as reinforcement in therapy anyway, but I highly suggest not putting edible rewards in pill organizers. We don't want any kiddos thinking items in pill boxes are for their consumption.

4. star tap light
Kiddos will use these to "buzz in" their answers! This can be used during most activities: answering questions, story comprehension, etc. Can't wait!

5. fall leaves stickers
We are going to use these next week. I'll print off some bare tree forms, then students can stick away while we drill our speech sounds.

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Leave a Comment: What's your preferred dollar store?
I'm devoted to Dollar Tree :)