HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES
By Hallie Bulkin
Fall is here and the countdown to Halloween is on! This is one of my favorite times of year as there are so many fun Halloween themed activities to play with and books to read to the children! I have included some of my favorite here for you to enjoy, too!
BOOKS
You can use any Halloween themed book but one of my favorites is pictured above, “Go Away, Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley. The book is silly and has repetition in it which is great for children who are working on expanding sentences, learning new vocabulary, and even for working on targeted speech sounds. It also teaches colors and facial features.
I use books in my therapy sessions in various ways. Usually I will read a book and then center an activity around it. After reading this book you can make a big green monster out of paper or playdoh, Be sure to talk about all of his different colored and shaped facial features!
SCARECROW
When I used to work in the school system I used to make scarecrows every year with the preschoolers. It is so much fun to make your own scarecrow! First, I would read a book with a scarecrow in it and then we would follow it up by making our very own scarecrows. During the activity you can work on attributes, shapes, colors, following directions, giving directions to a peer, answering and asking questions, following a sequence and even to teach speech sounds!
If you are looking for other ideas, one of my favorite sites for printable crafts is http://dltk-kids.com/
STORE-BOUGHT GAMES
My all time favorite game is Ned’s Head. The kids think it is HILARIOUS! It’s great to introduce it around Halloween since Ned’s Head is filled with silly and gross items that have the kids all screaming, EWWW!!! You have to put your hand in Ned’s ear or nostril in order to pull out an item so there is also an element of surprise. Kid’s love this game!! Get it here.
There are SO many different ways and materials that can be used to teach speech and language skills. Try some of these out this Halloween and come back to leave a comment and let us know how it went!
With Love,
Hallie Bulkin
Hallie Bulkin is a Certified Speech-Language Pathologist and Visalus Distributor. She strives to help others receive the support they need to make a positive change in their children’s communication skills and has a passion for helping others live healthier lives. If you’d like to know more about helping your child communicate or creating healthier habits, Hallie is happy to answer your questions.
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Note: This post first debuted on TheDCLadies.com on October 14, 2013.