Did you hear?? I am throwing a SALE on all of my Halloween resources! Thank you to those who inquired and inspired me to do this. Get an extra 15% off any of my Halloween-themed speech-language therapy activities! Sale runs until 11:59 PM on Halloween night! Check out everything here; just click the image below!
Halloween would NOT be complete without this favorite nursery rhyme — Five Little Pumpkins! I thought I would share the little set I made for my younger clients. This set includes all the story characters and elements to share the story, as well as coloring pages for students to cut and/or color to re-create the scene. Click the image below for previews. One of my favorites to share!! ENJOY!!
The countdown is on! It will soon be Halloween…a seasonal favorite for me, in case you can’t tell by all of the Halloween activities I’ve been creating and sharing! But I just wanted to pause a minute and share some advice for those of you out there answering doors and offering treats on Halloween. PLEASE be inclusive. Please don’t require ANYTHING in exchange for treats. It is okay if a child doesn’t say trick-or-treat — many do not have the communication skills to do so. And it is okay if a child doesn’t say thank you upon receiving a treat. Children who come to your door will come with varying levels of communication skills, social skills, and physical abilities. PLEASE be kind and do not single out children if they don’t appear to “comply” at your doorstep. Also keep in mind that children will have varying levels of sensory abilities as well, and their coping skills may not be aligned with your expectations. Children may also come from homes with varying levels of income, and they may not even (GASP!) be wearing a costume. They may seem “too old” to you, and you may feel like they don’t “deserve” the candy and goodies that you are giving to other children. I am here to say PLEASE be considerate of these points and PLEASE be inclusive. We have no way of knowing the factors at hand, and very little harm, if any, occurs when you offer kindness and inclusivity at your door. I created this visual as a reminder and a way to spread the word if you choose. Please feel free to share! And a Happy Halloweeen….Trick or Treat for ALL you meet this year!
I’ve been having SO much fun creating more seasonal resources! With time to create, I’ve been dreaming up big and little ideas, which I am always happy to share. Here is a quick, little idea I had that I have actually been using in my own therapy room. I work with children of all ages and ranges of ability, so the variety keeps me thinking. I am seeing more children now who present with subtle language difficulties — they are verbal, articulate, and at first glance seem to be on track with their peers. But when you get to know them, you quickly realize that they need organizational language support and practice with both comprehension and expression. So I created this Halloween-themed activity set to provide scaffolded supports and practice with understanding and describing seasonal vocabulary. In this 7-page NO PREP set, I’ve included:
I’ve been having very good success with this set and with variations I’ve created over the years. The visual stimuli, graphic organizer, and structured wh questions appear to be a magic combo! Feel free to check it out if you want:
With Halloween just around the corner, I thought I’d share another fun resource I created – these Halloween-themed motivation sheets! Use these motivation sheets to elicit repeated trials in your therapy session — perfect for articulation and phonology goals or for building momentum in any given skill. My students are always more motivated to complete lots and lots and LOTS of trials when I pair the task with a fun visual and make it a game. These visual incentive sheets will keep your students on track and help to build metacognitive awareness of their progress as they strive to mark off all 50 items on the page (hence the name NIFTY 50!). These motivation sheets can be used with dot markers, highlighters, crayons, colored pencils, or whatever tool you choose! You can also color these yourself and laminate, and then use the pages as visual token boards with bingo markers or magnetic coins. Side note: My students all love using a magnetic wand to pick up the coins after their trials! I got mine from Super Duper Inc but you can find them other places as well.
Anyway, hope you enjoy this resource. More Nifty Fifty sets to come in the not-so-distant future!
If you know me, you likely know that I am passionate about AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) and giving people a voice. Not only did I spend many years working as an SLP in the school setting where I fell in love with AAC, but I also taught the graduate AAC class at a university in Maryland for 8 years (check out this interview about some of my work!). When I re-located to Virginia, I continued my love for AAC as a learning consultant for an AAC vendor company. I learned so much over the years, and I am SO excited about providing AAC services now through my private practice, Yorktown Therapy Services.
In celebration of AAC Awareness Month and my return to private practice, I’ve created an updated version of my Classroom Core Communication Display! This tool can help decrease negative behaviors and give individuals a voice by providing daily exposure to AAC and core vocabulary in meaningful contexts. You can provide access to functional communication with this versatile core communication display that utilizes core vocabulary words to facilitate flexible, functional communication. The display also includes select fringe vocabulary and phrase-based messages to form a more robust method of communication. The display can be used on any smartboard in the front of the classroom (perfect for modeling use of vocabulary during instruction and general classroom communication!). It can also be blown up poster size and hung in therapy rooms, hallways, lunchrooms, gymnasiums, or even in home environments. Students can also utilize these core communication pages at their desk or in a personal notebook. I also love printing extra copies of this display to create file folder games, therapy activities, and card/board games using these relevant picture communication symbols.
This communication board was created using PCS® and Boardmaker by Tobii Dynavox® All rights reserved. Used with permission.
To learn more about modeling use of AAC, check out my favorite video on this topic! This video was created by Christopher Bugaj with Louden County Public Schools in Virginia. I LOVE showing this video to parents, teachers, university students, and anyone who wants to learn a little bit about AAC:
Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing about how YOU make a difference in the lives of people with complex communication needs. Remember, everyone deserves a voice!
Here’s another fun resource, from my therapy room to yours! Your students will love this activity that feels like a party game — Halloween Matching/Memory! Use these picture cards to target a variety of speech-language and academic skills as you play this game — simply pair the cards with any task that students complete as they take their turn. I’ve also used these hidden around the room for a Halloween Treasure Hunt game. Print extras to send home with students as a Halloween vocabulary review (my parents have loved playing this game at home with their kids as well). This activity set include 8 pages (title page plus seven pages of picture cards) with 21 picture pairs. Just print, cut, and go!
Can I just say…I LOVE offering bundles for discounts?! Here is another bundle including one of my most popular Halloween activities — Halloween Pragmatic Question Cards! These cards are the perfect way to target pragmatic/social skills and Halloween safety, in addition to receptive/expressive language, critical thinking, and even articulation. Just pair these cards with any game board, or have students pull questions out of a jack-o-lantern for Halloween fun that is practical and interactive. These would also be a super activity for teletherapy sessions! Questions are designed to target inferential thinking, making predictions, problem-solving, managing conflict, and pragmatic language/social skills. Group discussions and brainstorming possible scenarios/solutions can be put to use through discussions about real-life issues. This bundle includes my originial sets 1 and 2 for a discounted price! PLUS a BONUS Fall game board for your therapy room or classroom! My students think this activity is just a fun game, but it really targets a variety of valuable skills. SO….Trick or Treat, take a peek!
Halloween is one of my favorite times of year! Pumpkins, apple cider, costumes and crafts…there’s nothing like a little spooky fun to thrill students and engage them in their learning. Looking for ways to target a variety of academic and communication goals using a Halloween theme? Look no further! I have so many resources I’ve developed over the years that are tried and true winners. Check out my resources below, and follow the links over to my new TeachersPayTeachers site. Free downloads located at that site as well!
First, if you are looking for ways to target vocabulary, receptive and expressive language skills, turn-taking and visual discrimination, you will want to download my Halloween Bingo Set. Pair these colorful game boards with wh questions, verbal “mystery clue” descriptions, sentence formulation activities and more to target skills in a fun, creative way. Easily students’ activities to target IEP goals as you simultaneously work with a larger group — just vary the type of question or response that you are requesting as children take turns throughout the game. There a six different (recently updated) https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Bingo-Game-Set-365240bingo boards in this set:
If you are looking for activities to target pragmatic language skills, try these Halloween Pragmatic Question Cards…definitely a hit with both students and other teachers! I always incorporate an activity like this into our pre-Halloween lessons and discussions — to target the social pragmatic skills that are often tested this busy time of year, but also to target Halloween safety. I have used this activity to do push-in lessons in the classroom setting, and all of the students in the class participate in very useful discussion generated by these questions. I have students draw the little cards out of a jack-o-lantern bucket, or hide them around the room for students to find while they get some opportunities for movement and kinesthetic learning in their day.
The next Halloween activity I have to share is Halloween Word World — an activity targeting /r/ in various positions of the word. This activity would also be great for students learning about /r/ controlled vowels, or for use as a simple seasonal activity. Have fun!
The next Halloween activity I have to share is Halloween Word World — an activity targeting /r/ in various positions of the word. This activity would also be great for students learning about /r/ controlled vowels, or for use as a simple seasonal activity. Have fun!
Â
Â
Here is a fun make-and-eat activity that my students (and graduate student interns) are STILL talking about, years later…making Spooky Spiders to eat! Target a variety of language skills including following directions, sequencing, sequential and ordinal vocabulary, basic math and literacy concepts and more. AND you get to eat these yummy little spiders!! I use the visual directions to also target comprehension and expression after the activity — summarizing the procedures, retelling the events in sequence using appropriate vocabulary, answering wh questions about the procedures…and then I send the recipe page home for students to make the spiders for their family…instant homework, generalization to the home setting, and very happy, proud little monsters.
  
You may be busy creating your own materials, resources or blog posts, and find yourself in need of some festive clipart. But if you are posting the clipart or distributing the images in any way, you need to make sure you are following the copyright laws. Not sure what to do? Not interested in paying the crazy retail prices for clipart packages or digital scrapbooking content? You may be interested in my latest endeavor — FREE self-made clipart images. I won’t even go into the hours I spent making these in Powerpoint…creating each little critter line by line and shape by shape. I’m obviously not a digital image pro, but I think these images turned out pretty cute. And the images are designated for personal, educational and even commercial use. Please link back to my site if you do use these images in any way. I’m quite proud of my little creatures — labors of love, for sure!
I hope that you are now in the spooky Halloween spirit! You may have noticed that many (if not most) of my materials are seasonal or holiday-themed. There’s a method to my madness!! If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past 20 years, it’s that children remember celebrations. Chilchood memories are often tied to holidays, vacations and school events. We are all wired to remember the extraordinary. So, why not make learning FUN and enjoyable? Even celebratory?? You can accomplish the same goals, cover the same material and reach the hearts and minds of children the same way — if not better- than with traditional classroom activities. Children remember celebrations…and they will likely remember YOU as well.
Who else LOVES therapy and classroom activities with a seasonal flair?! Seasonal themes add such a fun, celebratory element to speech-language therapy. Festive games and activities appear to be my “specialty” — or so I have been told. Looking back, I have created a LOT of seasonal resources! And because I feel like celebrating, I decided to bundle some of my top Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving resources into a discounted mega-bundle! This mega-bundle of activities will last through the ENTIRE Fall Season. Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving activities galore to target receptive language, expressive language, pragmatics, articulation, and phonology as well as vocabulary and literacy! In this bundle you get 137 pages of printable games, lessons, stimulus cards, crafts, recipes, and more. Tried and true fun for your students, from my therapy room to yours. Check it out if you love minimal prep, easy to differentiate, printable activities with a seasonal flair!
I’ve had a LOT of requests for this one — a 22 page bundle of articulation and phonology games showcasing Fall and Halloween vocabulary! Such a favorite in speech therapy rooms and classrooms. Board games, stimulus cards for a variety of articulation and phonological goals, word strips to use on Legos or on Jenga pieces, Bingo Boards and calling cards that can be used memory/matching games, and even some create-your-own supplies! I wanted to get this up on the blog ASAP as I have some wonderful followers who’ve made very patient requests for this content. Here you go!
I wanted to share this visual for you — a FREE graphic organizer/visual support for WH Questions. This recently updated support is a clinician favorite; I’ve received lots of feedback about just how beneficial this visual is supporting students who need help understanding WH questions and their appropriate referents. In my therapy room, I have this visual posted and ready to quickly grab in the moment. From my therapy room to yours! This one-page download is perfect for any therapy room (or classroom.)
One of my favorite activities to use in therapy, especially group therapy, is BINGO! I love how such a fun, engaging, game that feels like a party can target so many skills – object identification/labeling, visual discrimination, auditory processing at the word/phrase/sentence levels, comprehension of wh questions, review of seasonal vocabulary, language formulation, use of vocabulary and related descriptive concepts, as well as speech sound production. These open-ended boards are perfect for differentiated instruction of students in small or large groups, as well as push-in lessons in the classroom. I’ve created a wide variety of theme-based Bingo boards over the years, and they are always a hit. I also use the calling cards from the Bingo sets to use as a memory games, vocabulary pages, card games, pictures for word walls, adapted books, and more. This particular activity set was created to target /k/ and /g/ velar sounds, but its versatility makes it also perfect for any student. I created color pages as well as black and white pages for the Bingo boards and the calling cards. Take a peek if you want!
P.S. I love using the PCS symbols from Boardmaker and Tobii Dynavox. I recently purchased a Maker License from the company (now required for copyright permissions) so I can create all sorts of visual materials and pass them on to other people! Anything you’d like to see? Just let me know!
If you’ve been following me since this blog started in 2012 (bless you if this is you!) you may know that I love to create therapy materials! Over the years I’ve shifted from hosting these materials on an external Google Drive to hosting them on Teachers Pay Teachers (what a wonderful invention by the way!). I have a variety of free and super cheap therapy materials hosted in my TPT store if you want to take a look. And I am SO EXCITED about having time to create again! So I will be sharing lots of materials here (including lots of free resources too!) so stay tuned. For now, I want to share my latest creation, this super fun Feed the Dog activity. I use this with literally any therapy activity or lesson and I get instant engagement and motivation from my clients/students. No need to struggle to find a game that I can use in therapy — I just pull this Feed the Dog activity out and pair it with stimulus cards, activity pages, or any other material, and kids love feeding the dog whenever it’s their turn. I also use this activity as a token reinforcement system to reinforce positive behaviors, task completion, and more. For whatever reason, it really works!
This activity set includes the dog face you can use to create your Feed the Dog activity (using a repurposed tissue box or bottle; see my image below), as well as bones to feed the dog, step by step directions, and a First/Then board customized for the reward of feeding the dog:
I definitely recommend this or similar tools for any therapy room or classroom! Hope you enjoy!!
It’s been a long while since I’ve posted an update here! As many of you know, my career branched out into a Clinical Assistant Professor position at a university, a job I truly loved! After about seven years of university teaching and clinical supervision, I relocated to my hometown in Virginia and began working in the corporate world as an SLP/Learning Consultant. When the world shifted in our post-covid era, I started to really long for personal connection again and dreamed of re-opening my private practice and serving children and families in my community. At the same time, my wonderful, hard-working husband was working to expand his dental practice and purchase the entire building that houses Geary Family and Cosmetic Dentistry. This larger practice and bigger space meant that there would be room for me to share his space (and his love for helping people) and open my speech-language therapy practice right in the same building! I am so excited to have begun this next adventure, serving families in my very own hometown. So, introducing Yorktown Therapy Services! Don’t worry; I plan on continuing to blog here to serve devoted supporters of Live Speak Love! I have lots of information and therapy goodies to share! But feel free to head over to my new practice Facebook page and give Yorktown Therapy Services some love!
Thanks everyone for continuing to support me and my dreams! Check out pictures of my new practice:
Love and thanks,
Lisa
