Apples, Pumpkins, and Leaves, Oh My

I love autumn! I think it is safe to say it is my favorite season. It awes my senses.  The crimsons and yellows, oranges and rust colored "foilage" (apologies to my SLP friends;
a nod to one of my autumnal mispronunciation pet peeves) blanket the ground like confetti.  I love the cool crisp air that snaps at my face. As I walk in the woods the song of the crickets and the pelting of acorns eases my addled mind.  And oh, the tastes; warm "cinnamony" apple crisp, savory stuffing, maple and buttery acorn squash.
With autumn comes some of my favorite speech and language activities, too.  I get some serious mileage out of apples and pumpkins and then of course there is Halloween.  It seems as my age increases my energy and creativity decreases.  I have the utmost respect for my incredibly talented colleagues who whip up some of the most clever and brilliant ideas.  I will say that now and again I have a little burst of creativity. Allow me to share few little items I'll be pulling out this month.

First of all, SquidjellySLP instagrammed the most adorable activity that I promptly "speech-lifted," (I think I may have coined a new term).  Look at this sweet apple craft!

After picking up some iced coffee last week I repurposed the cup carrier to be used for positive reinforcement with any speech-language activity. Add a little paint and some googly eyes and I have a fun and versatile game. Just bounce an EYEball and see where it lands!

It was still summer when I started thinking about Halloween activities.  I found these creepy hands at Michael's and thought they would be fun to hold cards or rake in little trinkets as reinforcement.

I love to use pacing sticks.  They are so helpful to my students with apraxia.  It's fun to have a variety of pacing sticks corresponding to the seasons and holidays.  What better way than to make Halloween pacing sticks than with googly eyes (they just keep looking at me).

Oh the dollar store; the wonderful, wonderful dollar store.  I recently found these pumpkin parts. They will be perfect for use with some foam pumpkins I purchased several years ago. They have applications for vocabulary development with my little ones, describing, following verbal directions, comparing and contrasting, sentence formulation and so much more!

I hope you enjoy these suggestions and if you have any ideas you'd like to share I would love to hear about them.  Please comment and let me know what you're planning this autumn!  Also follow me on Instagram (anniedoyle226), I'm sure to be adding some more activities as the season goes on.