Practice Speech and Language with These Halloween Activities and Crafts
Alexis Irazoque, M.S., CCC-SLP
Fall is here, and Halloween is creeping up fast! If you've got a child working on their speech and language skills, we’ve got 6 seasonal speech activities you can try at home. We promise there's something here your child will love, so have a spooktacular time with these Halloween-themed ideas!
Read fall- and Halloween-themed books
Reading is an incredible way for your child to learn new vocabulary words. Books also help children learn how to structure sentences, follow themes, and understand emotions. Plus, if you read together, they’re getting bonding time with you!
As you read with your younger child, point to different items in the pictures. Have them label what they see or tell you a short phrase or sentence about it.
For older children, ask them, “What do you think will happen next?” or “Why do you think the character did that?” Or, when the story is done, ask them to summarize what happened in the book.
Here are some seasonal books to consider adding to your library:
Spooky Pookie by Sandra Boynton
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Little Blue Truck's Halloween by Alice Schertle
Llama Llama Trick or Treat by Anna Dewdney
Don't Push the Button! A Halloween Treat by Bill Cotter
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds
Talk about the steps for carving or decorating pumpkins
If you celebrate Halloween, carving or painting a pumpkin is one tradition you can’t leave off the list. Let your child pick out the colors and designs. Gather your supplies, then get to work!
As you create your pumpkins together, practice the different action words that go with this activity. Learning new action words helps children grow their vocabulary and get better at conveying different concepts.
For early talkers, teach these words as you complete the related tasks, and see if they will imitate you:
Cut: "Let's cut the top off the pumpkin carefully."
Scoop: "Now we need to scoop out the pumpkin seeds."
Scrape: "Scrape the inside of the pumpkin to make it smooth."
Draw: "Draw a spooky face on the pumpkin with a marker."
Paint: "Paint the pumpkin with your favorite colors."
Carve: "We will carve the eyes and mouth into the pumpkin."
Mix: "Mix different paint colors to create a new shade."
Place: "Place the pumpkin on the porch for everyone to see."
Clean: "Clean up the pumpkin scraps after we're done."
Decorate: "Decorate the pumpkin with stickers or other fun accessories."
Make a spook-tacular Halloween snack with your child
Cooking with your child is a tasty way to practice speech and language skills at home. Check out these fun Halloween snacks that are easy for kids to help with:
There are lots of speech skills you can target while cooking and baking together. One idea is to practice the use of spatial concepts, or describing an object’s location. You could have your child explain that they need to take the cheese out of the fridge, or place the spoon in the bowl. For any spatial concepts that apply to your cooking, have your child name them. If they aren’t sure, spend some time teaching them these concepts.
The great thing about speech practice is that you can do it just about anywhere, during any activity.
You can also practice descriptive words with your child while you prepare the food. Ask them to name how the juice for the “witch’s brew” feels–maybe it’s cold and wet.
Of course, the most satisfying speech exercise is describing how the food tastes once you’re all done. Sit back and enjoy your hard work! Your little one can describe each food as they try it–maybe the hot dog mummy is salty and the Oreo spiders are sweet. This is one activity the two of you won’t mind doing together. (Although we make no promises about the cleanup required afterward!)
Make a fun Halloween craft
Craft projects are a great way to teach your child to follow directions, an important comprehension skill. To do this, pick out a craft activity to try. Give your child simple one-step directions to follow, such as, “Put the glue on the paper,” or “Dip the paintbrush in the water.” As your child improves with following these simple directions, move on to two- and three-step directions: “Put the glue on the paper, then press the googly eyes on the glue.”
When it comes to arts and crafts, there’s no need to be Picasso or invest in fancy supplies. Here are some simple–and adorable–Halloween craft ideas you can try with your child today.
Play a Halloween memory matching game
A homemade memory matching game is a simple way to teach your child themed Halloween vocabulary. You can also practice speech sounds and help improve your child’s short-term working memory. Follow these steps:
Print and cut out identical pairs of cards that contain photos of target words. For example, if your child is working on the /k/ sound, you might choose photos of a black cat, crow, candy, candy corn, costume, and cauldron.
Mix them up, and place them face down on a table.
Without looking, your child has to choose the first card, then the second, and see if it’s a match!
When they do find a pair, have them use the word within a context that’s right for their skill level. For example:
If your child isn’t yet saying full words, have them practice saying the first letter sound (for example, /b/ for “boo”).
If they’re learning to pronounce single-syllable words, have them repeat the word several times (for example, “boo–boo–boo”).
If they’re already saying words, have them use it within a two- or three-word phrase (“Ghosts say ‘boo!’”).
If you need help brainstorming Halloween words, here are two examples: Halloween Words (from Jill Staake at We Are Teachers) and Halloween Vocabulary List (from KidSparkz at Teachers Pay Teachers).
Try this ghostly speech sound practice
If your child is working on their speech sounds, here’s another fun game to play! Create ghost shapes out of white paper or fabric. Write different phonemes or speech sounds on each ghost, such as /m/, /s/, or /l/. Then, have your child “catch” the ghosts by saying the sounds or words written on them. You can turn it into a game where they have to say a word or sentence with the target sound before placing the ghost in a "haunted house" (a designated area like a box).
These activities combine Halloween fun with meaningful practice for speech and language development! The great thing about speech practice is that you can do it just about anywhere, during any activity. You’ll be growing your child’s speech and language abilities and making fun memories together, too.
