Halloween Therapy: Tricks n' Treats
With Halloween just a week away, it's a great time to include pumpkins, ghosts, spiders and all the scary little characters we associate with this spooky time! Kids love the holidays and I see a spark in their eye whenever I include seasonal themes in my sessions. In addition, as I stated in my last post, FALL FUN, seasonal and holiday based sessions help build vocabulary that is relevant to the child's environment and daily life, making these activities not only exciting but also meaningful.
Below is a list of Halloween-themed speech and language therapy ideas:
- Carve a Pumpkin - This activity is a fabulous way to do some hands-on sensory work! It's slippery and slimy and for children who are sometimes fearful of different textures, it's a great way to help them "dig" right in! (Also great for improving fine and gross motor control with scooping and scraping out the pumpkin seeds and rind). You can also bake the seeds with cinnamon and salt for a flavorful snack!
- Construction Paper Pumpkin Face - This is perfect for learning to follow basic 1-2 step directions, as well as discussing facial features and body parts. You can also make silly faces to practice oral motor exercises. I always like to have a finished product completed for the child to follow.
- Dress-up in Costumes - This is a great way to work on a wide variety of skills ~ self-help dressing skills, following directions, and decision-making skills allowing the child to choose what they want to be and what they want to wear.
- Face painting - wonderful for oral motor work! Use a mirror to give visual feedback.
- Books - There are tons of fabulous books about Halloween! Ones that light-up, make noises and of course, tell amusing tales! One that I particularly like is The Spooky Smells of Halloween, which is a scratch n' sniff book that is interactive and provides lots of colorful vocabulary.
- Painting with Halloween Stamps - This is a great way to practice naming color words and getting a little messy! Use black, purple or navy paper as the background and then have the child stamp a moon, cat, pumpkin, etc. in bright yellow and orange paint creating a spooky scene!
- Halloween Music - Sing silly Halloween songs, such as "5 Little Pumpkins". Singing is always a wonderful way to stimulate speech and language. There is also a 5 Little Pumpkins book that tells the story as you sing.
- Pumpkin Milkshakes - Use vanilla ice cream, butterscotch pudding and nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to flavor - zoom it all up in a blender to create an exciting tasty treat! Great for kids that have feeding issues related to texture! Also good for fine motor (stirring and scooping ice cream) and following basic directions (pour, shake, etc.)!
Hope you find these suggestions creatively inspiring! Happy Halloween!
Please write in and share the Halloween Therapy Treats YOU have used in your sessions!