With fall just around the corner, there are tons of seasonal, kid-friendly activities for your family. Many of these fun activities make it easy to promote speech and language development at the same time! Whether your family loves being outdoors or prefers staying in, here are a few fall activities you can enjoy as the weather turns colder.
- Pumpkin patch: Take a trip to a local pumpkin patch! Hayrides are a great way to search for fun, seasonal objects by playing games like “I Spy”. While you are searching for the perfect pumpkin, talk to your kids about the different sizes (small, medium, large), shapes, and stems of each pumpkin and ask your kids to describe what they look like!
- Leaf picking: The leaves in the fall are all sorts of different beautiful colors! Make an art project out of them by having the kids run around outside picking up leaves. Have them talk about the colors of each leaf and ask various WH- questions such as where do they grow? Why do they fall before winter? When do the leaves change colors? These are great questions to get a good conversation started and work on receptive language. Finish by having them glue the leaves on a piece of paper and present the shape they made!
- Carve a pumpkin: Carving pumpkins is a great activity to work on multiple-step directions. Talk through the different steps of carving a pumpkin. Have them plan out and draw what shape they are going to carve, discuss what tools they need, and have them ask for help with certain tasks if they need it.
- Ghost stories: Making up ghost stories is a great way to work on expressive language. Have your kids come up with their own story to tell under a flashlight at night! Prompt them with questions or give them a starting point if they’re having trouble. You can even incorporate building a pillow fort inside to tell the ghost stories!
Written by Brittany Becvar M.S. CCC-SLP
