Quick Last-Minute Halloween Activities

Need a quick last-minute Halloween activity but don't have much time to prep?  I've got a couple of great ones!

Here's one I've been using A LOT over the past couple of weeks.  I found some great Fall dot paint sheets  at 3dinosaurs.com.  The Fall Pack Extras has a variety of apples, leaves and pumpkins; the pumpkin is the one I used the most and is pictured at left.
So what did I do with it?

1.  I printed and laminated it and used it as a play dough mat.  I used orange play dough to make little balls, and gave them to the child one at a time after saying targeted words or phrases.  The kids promptly smashed them on the mat!  Many of them tried to cover the entire pumpkin with a layer of smashed play dough.  Fun for them, and a great way to get many reps in a short amount of time.

2.  I printed it out and used it with dot paints for several different purposes.  As an articulation activity, I glued small pictures above each vertical row.  The child would say the word and make one dot with paint for each dot in the row.  I also used it as a categorization activity.  I wrote category names above each row and had the child name 4 items in each category, making a dot for each item named.  Here's an example of one I used:

Here's another fast and easy Halloween craft:  Mummy Lights!

I saw this one on Pinterest, and just had to try it!  There was no website linked to the picture, so I don't know who to credit on this one, but it was easy enough to recreate by myself.  Here's what you need:

Gauze strips cut into 3-4" pieces, a jelly jar, wiggly eyes, tape and a tea light candle.  You can use this target any articulation sound you want by giving the child a piece of gauze after saying target words or phrases.  The child I worked with today requested "Sticky tape" twice for each gauze strip, because we are working on /st/ in two-word phrases.  The child uses the tape to attach the gauze to the jar.  All you need is a small piece of tape at each end.  After the jar is completely covered, simply glue on wiggly eyes (and a smile, if you want your mummy to look more silly than scary).  Then put the candle inside. That's it!  Look how ours turned out:

So cute!!!

Happy Halloween!


Pam

Small Talk SLP is now on Facebook and Twitter!

My kids are almost raised...I don't think my blogging harmed them much

I have had more visits to my blog this week than EVER before.  Wow, it's been crazy!  I know I owe some of the increased traffic to my fellow bloggers Carrie at carriesspeechcorner.blogspot.com and CC at ifonlyihadsuperpowers.blogspot.com, who so kindly linked a couple of my posts on their sites.  Thanks, girls!  I feel so blessed to be part of this wonderful, sharing community of blogging SLP's!

Way back in February, when I decided to try this blogging thing, my 23-year-old web developer son of mine called me a "Tech Toddler" because I wasn't very tech savvy.  I'm still not, but I can tell you I'm learning A LOT.  Since then, I've learned how to create PDF documents on Powerpoint, share them via Google Docs, and post them to my blog.  I've seen many of my ideas posted by others on Pinterest, which is such a complement, and have received many comments that encourage me to keep on bloggin'.  I kind of took the summer off from blogging, as summertime in Oregon is Sun Time, and being the solar-panel-with-flesh that I am, I can barely stand to stay indoors.  Then, Settling-In-September began, with a flurry of new clients and a mental shift to get back on task.  Now we're almost to the end of Out-of-the-Gates-October and my creative energy has kicked in full gear.  I've added many posts this month and have ideas lined up for several more.   I'm a little apprehensive as to what November will bring!

  Today I added three new buttons:  A link to my Facebook page (which I just started a month ago), a link to Twitter (of which I'm also a newbie) and my license for Scrappin' Doodles, the graphics website that I've been using to create some of my Halloween things.  I'm so proud of myself...I did it all by myself!  Sad, huh?  All you have to do is click on the Facebook and Twitter buttons and it will take you right to my Facebook page or my Twitter feed.  So cool!

I'm so glad you came here to visit me!  I hope you'll like what I have to share.

Fall Flip Book for S-Blend Practice

Last week I posted a little Halloween Flip Book that was extremely popular with my readers.  I was surprised by it's popularity, as it was something I made years ago and hadn't pulled it out in a few years.  But as I saw how much the kids enjoyed using it this past week, I decided to create another one.  This one is specifically designed to be used to work on S-Blend words and phrases, as I have several little buddies who struggle with those skills.  I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but basically I plan to use it just like the Halloween one.  The stack of pictures on the left side of the book are adjectives as in the Halloween Flip Book, and the stack on the right are objects/people.  The words on all the picture cards begin with S-blends, which include SP, SL, SM, ST, SK and S.  Most of the adjectives pair up with at least one object that makes sense, but it is fun to talk about why when they don't.  There are twice as many adjectives in this set than objects so you can be selective.  If you'd like to use this little book too, you can download it here..  I recommend that you print it on photo paper if you have it.  It's my little trick for not needing to laminate!

Enjoy!

Pam

P.S.  I love receiving your comments!

Peek-a-Boo Trick or Treat App Review

I've got a great app to go along with my fun little paper sack book that I showed you last week.  It's called Peekaboo Trick or Treat, from Night & Day Studios, the makers of the very popular Peekaboo Barn app that's been a hit with toddlers everywhere.  It has darling graphics created by Ed Emberley, the wonderful author/illustrator who gave us the classic book Go Away, Big Green Monster! that are silly rather than scary, and fun sound effects that just beg to be imitated.  Best of all, it's easy to play with just a touch, making it accessible to kids with motor challenges.

The silly doors to the "haunted house" wiggle and shake, inviting you to open them, accompanied by knocking and a silly sound made by the creature inside.

The doors open to reveal a single Halloween creature, who continues to make the silly.

The actions and sounds stop, and a written word appears on the screen, accompanied by a child's voice saying the word.

A tap to the screen makes the creature disappear and the doors close, only to start the sequence again.  There are 14 different characters that rotate through the opening and closing of the doors, culminating in a dance party for all.

How fun is that?  My little ones think it's a riot and just love imitating the crazy sounds.  I've used it all week with the same kiddos who made the paper sack books I showed you in my post Halloween Bugs Book and Preschool Craft from last week.  We say "knock knock" before we touch the doors, and then practice saying variations of the words that go along with the characters.

Have fun with this one!

Pam

Trick or Treating Social Story

Here's another little Halloween treat from my Boardmaker files:  A simple social story for trick-or-treating.  It's a great little set of pictures to use as a social story or for sequencing activities.

You can download a copy here.    I hope you like it!

Pam

Halloween Flip Book for Adjectives

Here's an oldie-but-goody that I pulled from my Boardmaker files:  a Halloween Flip Book  for working on adjectives.

It's a fun little book with a stack of adjective cards on the left, and Halloween vocabulary on the right that you flip through to make plausible and silly combinations.

I like to have the kids turn to the first page and say, "I see a scary haunted house," and then have them flip over the next vocabulary card to see if the next item is also scary.  For example, the second card might be a picture of candy, so I ask them, "Is candy scary?  No!"  Sometimes we continue flipping through the whole vocabulary stack and sometimes we just find one more thing to match the adjective, depending on the child.

Sometimes when we turn over an adjective and an object that do not match, such as a yummy moon, I will ask the child to tell me a better word to describe the moon.

There are all sorts of ways to use this fun little flip book.  Would you like a copy? If so, you can download it here.  Instructions are included, and it goes together quickly so you could use it today!  Helpful hint:  print it on card stock or photo paper for better print quality and durability.

Here's a sample of my vocabulary cards:

Have fun and please let me know what you think.  Your feedback is always appreciated!

Pam

Halloween Bugs Book and Craft for Preschoolers

I just love Fall and Halloween, can you tell?  There's so much fun to be had!

One of my favorite books for toddlers and preschoolers is Halloween Bugs by David Carter.  The kids just can't seem to get enough of this little lift-the-flap book!  Even my elementary school-aged kids love it.  Each page features a unique lift-the-flap door with a bug-in-disguise hiding behind.  Some of the bugs pop out, some have crazy hair, and some are just plain silly.  Another feature I love is that it has repetitive-line text.   Each page asks, "Who's behind the _____ door?"

I'm using it this week to work with young preschoolers who are working on building two-word phrases and/or consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words.  I can easily change the text to suit whichever goal I'm working on.  For example, instead of using "Who's behind the door?", I might say "Knock knock!" to target a CVC word.  Before I allow the child to open the door, I might have him say "Open door"  or "red door" to target a two-word phrase.  Depending on what we find behind the door, we can say a descriptive CVC word, and we can say "bug".  Before we close the door again, we can say "Bye Bug".

Download this page to make the Knock Knock Paper Bag Book

I made a little activity to go along with this book that my students can take home with them.  It's a book whose pages are made from paper lunch sacks!  This is how I did it.  I cut out the "Knock Knock!" squares and the Halloween graphics from the printout you can grab here.  I used darling graphics from Scrappin' Doodles to make it.

I stacked four paper lunch sacks and cut off the top 3-4'' and then stapled them together.

I glued one "Knock Knock" square on the first paper sack, and a red rectangle door that I cut from card stock on top of the bag bottom, which is like a flap.

I lifted the flap and glued the moon graphic under the flap, and then flattened the flap to close the door. I like to let my graphics peek out a bit from behind the door to give the kids a hint to what they might find when they open it.  Repeat for the remaining pages.  You could change the colors of each door if you want, or you could just draw a door shape using a marker if you don't have time to cut and paste on doors.  In fact, I've been drawing doors on the flaps all week and it's actually worked out better.  You can make the doors "spooky" by letting the child put Halloween stickers on them, too.  That's it!  Super easy, and super fun.

You could do a variation of this book with older kids, too.  Just think up a repetitive line that will work with your goals, and write it with a marker on each page.  If you're working on adjectives, you could let your students make the doors be dusty, sparkly, spooky or whatever you decide.  You could have the kids make bugs to hide behind the doors, just like in the book, and you could embellish them with yarn, paper shreds, googly eyes, etc.  Or, check this out:  I grabbed this cute memory game made by Carrie at Carrie's Speech Corner last week from Pinterest.  Thanks, Carrie!  You could hide these cute trick-or-treaters behind your doors!  Language opportunities abound!

I hope you find this idea as much fun as I do!


Pam

Spooky Spider Web for /S/-Blend Practice

Here's a really quick and easy idea for some articulation practice with a little Halloween fun.  Download a spider web image from the web, print it off and add stickers.  I found mine on Google Images;  there are lots of others to choose from.

I used it today to work on words that begin with /sp/. I gathered up a collection of Halloween stickers and wrote the target sentence at the bottom of the page.  In this case, the sentence was "A spooky ______ on a spider web." I let the child choose 5-10 stickers.  After she chose a sticker, we labeled it as a Spooky Ghost, or a Spooky Cat, or whatever fit the sticker. Then after the child stuck the sticker to the web, we said the target phrase together.  We repeated the sequence for the remaining stickers.  Finally, I had the child show me each sticker she placed on the web and say the target sentence independently.

I'm planning to use this activity to work on following directions, too.  It'd be a great way to work on left/right, above/below and other prepositions.

Don't you just love activities that require very little prep and can be easily adapted for a variety of goals?  I do!

Have fun!


Pam

A Spooky Spooky Story

How about a cute, spooky tale to get you in the mood for Halloween?  I made this cute little book using graphics from Scrappin' Doodles and would love to share it with you!

It's a 7-page rhyming book with a pop-out ghost at the end that is sure to charm your little ghosts and goblins.  All you have to do is print it and cut out the pages and you're ready to go.

The pop-out ghost is the best part of this spooky little tale.  Just fold a strip of paper accordion-style, glue one end to the ghost and one end to the "Boo" page. He will pop right out when the "door" page is turned.

If you'd like to download a copy, you can grab it here.

I've used this little book in lots of ways.  It's great for vocabulary, and perfect for practicing /sp/ blends.  You could also make this a more hands-on activity for your students by letting them make all the pages of their books.  Just enlarge the graphics and text, cut them out individually (not as pages, just graphics or blocks of text) and let your kids glue them to blank pages cut from card stock.  Like this:

What do you think?  Will you use it?  Tell me how!


Pam