Monster-Themed Lesson Plans for Halloween

October 11, 2021

Looking for some fun activities for your little monsters? Here are a few “scary” Halloween activities for your lesson planning. These monster-themed lesson plans provide lots of great not so scary fun for students. Easy to implement, spooky monster lesson plan ideas for Halloween fun!

Monster-Themed Lesson Plan – Build a Monster Game

This is a fun game for keeping hands busy and kids engaged during small group activities. This monster-themed lesson plan activity takes a little bit of prep work ahead of time but then can be used over and over for years. Print all parts, cut apart and laminate. To play, present each player with a monster template card, and place all monster parts in the middle of the table. Use some dice from another game that you may have on hand. For their turn, players roll the dice to find out which monster part they can place on their template. There are many different colors, patterns and styles of body parts to choose from. The first player to complete his/her monster is the winner! This game can be used just as it is with a small group of students. You can also use it during teaching and practice activities. For example, before rolling the dice, the player must say a word containing his/her speech sound, or define a given word, or give an antonym for a specific word, or read a sight word, etc.

Halloween Hashtags – Monster Selfies

Sticking with the monster theme, this is perfect for your older students working on vocabulary and inferencing skills. Print, laminate and cut apart the monster selfies and hashtags descriptions. Students can work together or independently to match the hashtag description clues to the monster selfies. Blank pages are also provided for students to make up their own.

Still looking for more monster-themed lesson plans?…..

Halloween Speech and Language Activity Kit

This Halloween Speech and Language Activity Kit contains many spooky Halloween monsters and covers a huge variety of language skills. This kit covers so many language goals including figurative language, following directions, describing, grammar and more.

Here are a few other fall fun activities:

Apple Themed Activities

Free Fall Recipes to Make with Kids

Free Fall Worksheets

I hope you enjoy these!

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Apple Themed Vocabulary Activities

September 29, 2021

apple themed vocabulary activities title

Apple season is one of my favorites. And an apple theme is perfect for the classroom and speech therapy room in the fall! Cooking activities, read-alouds, crafts, worksheets, and apple everything. Here are a few of my favorite ways to introduce vocabulary related to fall and apples:

Read-Alouds

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Apples by Gail Gibbons

Bad Apple A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway

Apple Themed Vocabulary Activities

This apple themed language activity contains a variety of apple vocabulary pictures, synonyms, antonyms, categories, and much more! Perfect for language centers and small group activities.

This apple unit for preschool and kindergarten contains a variety of apple themed vocabulary activities including coloring pages, sorting activities, easy reader books and more.

Apple Recipes for Kids

Here’s a cool website (kid’s cooking activities) with apple recipes for kids of all ages. I like the apple frogs, apple crisp and apple turnovers.

Free Crockpot Applesauce Poster Visual Recipe

Apple Recipe Freebie for Early ed and Special ed

Apple Pie in a Cup Visual Recipe

Craft Ideas

There are lots of different crafts to make involving apples. It is fun to cut apples in half and using tempura paint make simple stamps on craft paper. Here are a few other fun ideas:

Apple Scented Play Dough

27 Apple Themed Crafts

Apple Sun Catchers

Taste Testing

The best part of an apple themed activity is the tasting! Bring in a variety of types of apples. Cut them into nice slices and allow the students to sample different types of apples. Talk about flavors (sweet, sour, tart) and textures (juicy, crunchy, soft). You might also try some apple juice and apple cider. Encourage students to talk about other things that are made from apples that they enjoy.

Still looking for more fall themed activities? Try these fall freebies:

Free Fall Printables

Free Fall Recipes to Make with Kids

What else do you enjoy in the fall?

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Free Get up and Move Following Directions Activity

September 17, 2021

free activity

Looking for a free following directions activity that’s fun and get’s the kids up and moving? This free get up and move following directions activity is fun and engaging. It’s great for face to face and distance learning.

Get Up and Move Following Directions Freebie

Touch your nose. ?

Act like a frog. ?

Stand on one leg like a flamingo. ?

Kids love this fun free get up and move following directions activity that’s perfect for listening skills and a great movement break. It is fun to have the kids read the simple directions aloud. They also like to make up their own. Do just a few at a time to allow for more fun listening and movement activities throughout the day. If you are working with kids who are distance learning, these are easy to share over the screen as well. A perfect break from sitting and listening.

Pretend you are playing the piano ?

Stretch your neck like a giraffe ?

Sway back and forth like a flower ?

If you like this activity, I have several other best selling following directions resources in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Following Directions All Year

Following Directions All Year – Intermediate Grade Level

Looking for more movement activities? Try some yoga poses with your students. Practicing these yoga poses together is great for following directions, providing movement and more. Yoga is great for focus, mindfulness and movement opportunities in the classroom.

Yoga for Kids

So happy you are here! If you are looking for more free items, there are lots in my teachers pay teachers store including these free following directions activities:

Thanksgiving Turkey Following Directions Freebie

Christmas Following Directions Freebie

Be sure to also check out these free items:

Free Fall Recipes to Make with Kids

Free Fall Printables

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Mindfulness for Kids

September 12, 2021

mindfulness for kids

When kids learn to be mindful, they learn to be fully present in the moment. They learn to be self aware. They demonstrate improved emotional regulation and reduced anxiety and stress. It’s easy too. Here are 3 simple activities to encourage mindfulness in kids.

1. Practice mindful breathing

One activity to work on mindfulness with kids is to practice mindful breathing. To do this, find a quiet space to sit comfortably. Set time for one minute. Focus on breathing slowly in and out while paying attention to the sounds around you and the feeling of your body in space. This Mindful Breathing Activity may be helpful.

2. Try coloring

Coloring activities can be be very soothing and calming to kids and adults. Just the simple act of self-selection of colors and coloring quietly can do a lot in helping our bodies and minds to relax. Try this Mindful Coloring Freebie that contains easy to color pages with positive messages. You can also use any coloring book or printable coloring pages that you have available. This Mindful Affirmations coloring set is another great option.

3. Create a Breathing Stick

With just a pipe cleaner and some small plastic beads, kids of all ages can create a simple tool for mindful breathing. Once made, kids can use them to take a few relaxing, cleansing breaths to reset and relax. Click here for instructions.

4. Take a mindful walk.

The goal here is to walk slowly and calmly while quietly noticing and appreciating things around you. If outside, notice the feel of the air on your skin. Notice the sounds of nature that you hear. Observe and appreciate the sights of plants or animals around you.

5. Try sharing some children’s books about mindfulness

Here are a few that I like:

A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles by Thich Nhat Hanh

Master of Mindfulness: How to be your own Superhero in Times of Stress by Grossman, Alvarez and Mrs. Musemichi’s 5th Grade Class

Listening With My Heart: A Story of Kindness and Self Compassion by Gabi Garcia

I hope these ideas are helpful in trying some mindfulness with your kids. To learn more about mindfulness in general start here.

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What Is Mindfulness

September 8, 2021

Mindfulness – An Introduction

What is mindfulness? According to Mindful.org, mindfulness is the basic ability to be fully present and not overly reactive or overwhelmed. Mindfulness is a simple and powerful tool for self-improvement. We can improve our ability to be aware and fully present through practice. There is growing research that shows that when we practice mindfulness we can actually change the physical structure of our brains.

Mindful Meditation

One important part of mindfulness is mindful meditation. Meditation is not about the absence of thought, but rather it is about being fully present. It is about realizing the power of our minds to recognize thoughts, self-talk and sensations without reacting negatively to them. In practicing mindful meditation, we learn to observe and be aware of physical feelings, emotions, and thoughts without judgment. In meditation we focus on the breath while being fully present in the moment.

How to start?

If you are new to mindfulness and mindful meditation, visit the Mindful.org website for some great information and links to resources and guided meditations. If you are just beginning meditation, you can start with a body scan meditation. A body scan meditation helps you to become aware of your body in space and to be in tune with your breathing. Another basic guided meditation is the Ten MInute Guided Breathing Meditation. This meditation is quick and easy to try to get you familiar with how to take just a few minutes to be more mindful. Ten Percent Happier and Calm are also great resources that you can access online or via apps.

Like most things, adding mindfulness to your life is a process. Keep it simple by exploring some of the resources suggested here. Mindfulness is something that our bodies and minds can already do. Through practice we learn how to use mindful practices to improve our physical, emotional and mental health.