Fall is one of my favorite seasons, with the changing colors, cooler days, slower pace, and holidays abound. I transform my office and set up not so spooky Halloween activities for the young at heart for at least six weeks! Let’s take a closer look at some easy and affordable ways you can transform any space for fun and functional learning.
DECOR
Over the years, I have purchased many Halloween decorations at the end of the season clearance sales at Target and Walmart. I also collect seasonal items at the Dollar Tree for both crafts and decor. These materials help me to transform my office space into a fun, brightly-colored theme that usually brings a smile to a client’s face upon entering. Some of my typical decor lasts for a few years or more. I decorate with Halloween-themed items like a plastic cloth, banner, haunted houses for storage, and a bucket of books. The vibrant decor prompts clients to comment and label objects, enhancing engagement during therapy sessions.
A clearance door covering with removable stickers from Target was a favorite find, providing enjoyment for clients for years. The stickers were easily removable, allowing multiple clients to enjoy the task over several years. We worked on following directions like, “Put five pumpkins on the fence”, “Give each pumpkin and ghost a hat”, “Put the bat on the moon/window” and “Put the pumpkin on the ghost.” I liked that I could work on familiar and novel commands and vary this activity to meet the needs of many clients.
My Halloween book collection, mostly my son’s, is extensive, as seen below. I use them for sequencing tasks with clients. Manipulatives purchased from various sellers enhance language tasks with the books during sessions. Having these hands-on activities while reading books dramatically improves attention, which in turn increases word ordering sentences and responding to questions about the story. You can find some wonderful materials at these locations:
PUMPKIN CRAFT
Another huge hit every year is my Styrofoam pumpkins craft with plastic facial parts all courtesy of the Dollar Tree. We use this in language sessions to make requests with complete sentences like “I need a mouth” or “I want eyes.” This task is especially perfect for my young language learners using speech generating devices.
Everyone enjoys taking these home and recreating it. Some caregivers commented that they liked this activity so much that they purchased more pumpkins and facial parts on their own and made them with siblings at home. I love it when something that we talk about in the speech room can be generalized to other settings!! What a great way to practice functional and seasonal vocabulary and language skills!
SCARECROW SNACK
One sure way to a child’s heart is food! We have made a scarecrow treat to practice sequencing, commenting, and requesting. I found this creative snack in a Pillsbury Halloween cookbook that I bought years ago when my son was a mere toddler. You can see the steps in the images below if you want to make your own, yummy snack sometime.
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| First, spread white icing on a vanilla cookie. |
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| Second, shred some Triscuit crackers to make straw. |
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| Place shredded crackers on the sides of the cookie. |
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| Add a candy corn nose. |
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| Use chocolate chips for eyes and black icing for a mouth. |
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| Add a gumdrop hat and then enjoy your treat! |
PLAYDOUGH
Many of my activities for little ones between the ages of 2-7 include hands on play and sensory time. A fan favorite is play dough. I make my own batch for individual clients using this recipe that is quick, inexpensive, and easy. When I want to move on to another color, I send the play dough home with the client and whip up another batch.
One time, I accidentally stumbled upon an activity to work on sound sequencing using play dough and mini erasers/ objects. You do not need to practice the names of the characters on the erasers, unless you want to. My clients primarily worked on sequencing simple CV, VC, and CVCV combinations, so we used individual targets while pushing the object into the dough. I’m telling you, we could spend half of the hour long session just playing with dough!
SENSORY BINS
Speaking of sensory play, I also love switching out a basket or bin for seasonal activities. We have practiced sounds and words while digging through a bin filled with leaves in September and then hunted for targets in a Halloween-themed bin in October. Near Thanksgiving, I mixed Velcro foods with fake gourds to target CVC words like “cut”. I find much of my fill for these sensory bins at the Dollar Tree and typically throw away what I cannot sanitize and just buy new fill the next season.
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| Fall |
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| Halloween |
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| Thanksgiving |
LEGOS
I usually have a couple upper elementary students working on articulation of (you guessed it) /s/ or /r/!! These clients have loved earning a Lego brick each time they practiced a target. Once all targets were earned, clients were given some time to create a Halloween character. Kids are so much more creative than I am when it comes to crafts, so I rely on them to make a masterpiece without laying out a predetermined plan. Here is what my a fifth grader conjured up: can you tell he loved Minecraft?
