As October rolls in, it brings new opportunities to excite kids about speech therapy. The change in season offers plenty of chances to get creative with your October speech therapy lesson plans, from talking about autumn traditions to exploring the excitement of Halloween. Whether diving into fall vocabulary or crafting stories around seasonal events, October is a great time to build meaningful, language-rich experiences for your students. Keep reading to learn more!
October in speech therapy is all about fall and changing leaves, fire safety, spiders, bats, and all things Halloween! I’ve put together some fun fall, alternatives to Halloween, and Halloween-themed resources to make your speech therapy activities easier during October with your students.
Be sure you get the free download to print the October therapy plans at the bottom of this post.
Table of Contents
Week 1: Leaves
Since leaves are falling, it’s a great time to discuss them and incorporate them in language lessons! These fun activities excite kids as they work on their speech skills.
BOOKS
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves: This fun story always keeps kids engaged. The sweet fox experiences the leaves falling from the trees, and kids can participate in fun discussions about the book.
The Leaf Thief: Squirrel is counting his leaves, but one is missing. He teams up with his friend to solve the mystery of the missing leaf!
ARTICULATION
Leaves Dice & Dot: Roll and dot the words as kids work to say them. The leaf shapes are a great addition to any October speech therapy lesson plans.
Leaf Craft: Students will use the words they are working on during therapy to complete this acorn craft. Display it on your bulletin board or send it home to parents.
LANGUAGE
Use the following activities to work on articulation as well as language:
Read & Review: Fall Book Companions: Use the book companion resources after reading the fun stories to teach your lessons. Everything is written out for you.
Fall Narrative Notes: You don’t have to lift a finger as you use these notes with the October speech therapy lesson plans! It makes teaching so simple.
Week 2: Fire Safety
It’s important to teach kids fire safety at any age. Use the books and activities to remind them what to do during an emergency.
BOOKS
Visit the Firehouse: Join the characters as they visit a firehouse. Learn about the spaces in the firehouse and how vital all the gear is to firefighters.
Big Frank’s Fire Truck: Learn about a day (and night) as a firefighter in this beautifully illustrated story.
Pete the Cat: Firefighter Pete: Pete the Cat has a job to do! Join him as he fights fires and rescues lives. This classic story is a fun way to teach kids about fire safety.
ARTICULATION
100 Articulation Trials (fire trucks): Use the fire trucks to practice articulation trials with students. They will love the simple yet lovable theme.
LANGUAGE
Fire Safety Lap Book: This lap book is a fantastic way for kids to practice their fire safety knowledge while also developing their language skills.
Week 3: Bats and Spiders
Kids love bats, spiders, and everything creepy this time of year! Use it to your advantage in your October speech therapy lesson plans.
BOOKS
Stellaluna: This classic story about a bat has plenty of articulation and language skills to add to your plans. It’s such a sweet story about a tiny bat!
Aaaarrgghh! Spider!: A sweet spider wants to be a family pet! They think they are better than any dog or cat, but can they prove themselves?
Spiders Gail Gibbons always does a fantastic job teaching little ones about nature. This book shows kids the beauty of spiders.
Sylvie: Sylvie is a quiet spider who stays out of the way. She watches the people that come and go, but will she ever step out and be seen?
ARTICULATION
100 Articulation Trials (Spiders and Bats): Use this spider and bat-themed chart to work on articulation! This one goes all the way to 100!
50 Articulation Trials (Spiders and Bats): If your students need a smaller goal, use this 50 articulations version!
LANGUAGE
Read & Review: Halloween Book Companions: This book companion guide makes planning easy. It has everything you need to teach kids using the books mentioned in these October speech therapy lesson plans.
Week 4: Halloween
We can’t let October get by without celebrating Halloween! This week is packed full of witches and all things spooky. It’s one of our favorite weeks in the fall.
BOOKS
Room on the Broom: How many silly characters can fit on the witch’s broom? Read with students to find out!
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything: The little old lady isn’t afraid of anything, but she walks a little faster when she hears scary noises behind her in the woods. See what’s following her!
Bone Soup: FInnigan has a huge appetite but finds himself without a meal on Halloween. He has to use his wits and cauldron to brew something to eat!
ARTICULATION
Halloween Dice & Dot: Roll the dice, say the word, and dot the space! Do this until all of the spaces are full.
Halloween Match & Say: Students will match and say the words on the sheet. Once they have matched them all, they can repeat the process or use another card.
LANGUAGE
Use these resources to practice both language and articulation:
Categories- Halloween: The kids have to sort the words on the cards into the correct categories! It’s a Halloween-themed game of fun!
Halloween WH Questions: These questions help students with their WH words and get them talking!
Read & Review: Halloween Book Companions: Use the book companions to facilitate your read-alouds and October speech therapy lesson plans.
Halloween Narrative Notes: The notes are your ultimate guide to the October plans. YOu won’t have to lift a finger because it’s all planned out for you.
Week 5: Halloween
This week continues with the Halloween fun, so why not?
BOOKS
The Hallo-Wiener: This hysterical story is about a schnauzer and his escapades during the spooky season.
Stumpkin: No one wants a stem-less pumpkin, and that’s what Stumpkin is! Will anyone select him to sit in their window on Halloween?
Turkey Trick or Treat: Even turkeys want to celebrate Halloween and get candy. Can he convince his friends to go trick-or-treating, and will they get any candy?
ARTICULATION
Halloween Dice & Dot: Use the dice and dot pages to continue words week after week! Practice makes perfect, after all.
Build-A-Face Halloween: Roll the dice and create funny faces while saying the words on the page. When it’s finished, students will have adorable Frankensteins and witches.
LANGUAGE
The resources mentioned above can also be used for language in the fifth week of the month. Use them to extend articulation and language practice to help students succeed.
- Halloween Dice & Dot
- Build-A-Face Halloween
- Categories- Halloween
- Halloween WH Questions
- Read & Review: Halloween Book Companions
- Halloween Narrative Notes
Check out these podcast episodes to help to decide which books are best for your speech therapy sessions in October:
PODCAST: Our Favorite Fall Books for Using in Speech Therapy
PODCAST: This or That: Using Leaf Man and The Leaf Thief
PODCAST: Our Favorite Alternative to Halloween Books for Using in Speech Therapy
PODCAST: Our Favorite Halloween Books for Using in Speech Therapy
PODCAST: This or That: Using Little Blue Truck’s Halloween and Room on the Broom in Speech Therapy
PODCAST: Deep Dive: Using Bone Soup in Speech Therapy
Enter your name and email below and I’ll send you these October speech therapy lesson plans for free! The calendar has several spots for you to add your own therapy plans, a to-do list, and room at the top for you to write down any screenings or meetings you need to remember for the month.
You can check out the calendar for November HERE. Editable templates are also available in my TpT store.
