Spooky Speech & Language: Making Halloween a Learning Opportunity

Halloween is right around the corner and we can’t wait! Halloween is a great time to incorporate language learning opportunities (just like every other holiday).

There are objects, activities, and colours that we associate with each holiday, which give us a base to teach from.

Here are some ideas to incorporate some halloween-themed learning at home:

Make book-reading halloween related even if it’s just a regular book! Dress up like the characters in the book.

Think simple costumes like hats, shirts and glasses that you may already have in your house.

Incorporate exclamatory words while reading (especially in costume). Ask your child what that person or animal might say.

Some examples include cowboy/girls who yell “Yee-haw!”, dinosaurs exclaiming “Rawr!”, and pirates saying “Argh!”.

If your child is up for more imaginative play, have them act out a character from a book during play time.

This might be as simple as a butterfly or superhero “flying” around the house or a monster stomping around the yard.

For older children, or those with higher level language skills, this might entail acting out multiple action sequences from the stories (The Three Little Pigs or the Paperbag Princess are some of our favourites to act out!).

Want some fun printables to use at home?

Here’s a great link to a spooky speech work booklet with activities for articulation and vocabulary.

Turn technology time into learning time with these two halloween based apps.

#1 – Mask Jumble Halloween

Kids can take photos of themselves and turn themselves into silly monsters. This is a great activity for describing and sparking social interaction. (Just make sure they ARE doing this with you and using it as a conversation piece).

#2 – Carve-A-Pumpkin

This app is especially great for little ones who want to carve a pumpkin but are not old enough to handle sharp objects. A bonus for parents – none of the clean up! This is another amazing tool to encourage describing and following directions (ex. “Can you make a happy pumpkin?” or “Can you give the pumpkin circle eyes?”)

We hope these tips help you incorporate fun teaching techniques at home for the month of October, and give your kids some extra special & educational playtime.