Fall is a magical time of year that brings a colorful change in scenery as well as colder weather, shorter days, and warmer clothes. As we transition to fall—and all the changes that come with it—it’s the best time of the year to learn more descriptive words! There’s no better way to use descriptive language than using our senses. Here are some ways we can use our senses to encourage expressive language while doing our favorite pumpkin-themed activities.

What are our 5 senses? They are sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Below is a list of some fun descriptive words you can use for each sense while exploring your fall activities.

Using Our Senses With Pumpkins

• We can use our senses to describe our perfect pumpkin regardless of whether you pick it in the store or at the pumpkin patch. If kids aren’t sure what they want out of pumpkin, you can model how you would like your pumpkin to look and feel to help encourage a description. For example, “I want a pumpkin that is small, dark orange, and not smelly.”

• Sometimes, we see the right pumpkin but don’t know how to express it. You can encourage your child to request by modeling “I want _____” or expand their sentences by adding some adjectives that they used to describe their “perfect” pumpkin! Ex. “I want the round pumpkin!” → “Great – you want that big, white, round pumpkin!”

• Carving pumpkins can be a lot of fun and a great sensory-seeking activity. We can use our senses to describe what we are experiencing. For example, “the seeds feel sticky” or “the pumpkin sounds empty now that all the seeds are gone!”

• We can also use our taste adjectives when we eat pumpkin-flavored items, such as, “these pumpkin seeds are salty!”

However you decide to use pumpkins this fall, you can incorporate so many language-filled activities. For more pumpkin-related speech activities, check out our other blog here!

Written by Amanda Q. Diaz, M.S. CF-SLP