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We absolutely LOVE Halloween! However, this time of year can bring lots of excitement, goofy schedules, and distracted students. So to help keep the focus on speech and language, Mandy has created the most spooktacular Halloween vocabulary scavenger hunt activity. From finding hidden pictures to diving into a creepy sensory bin, your students will be sure to meet all of their vocabulary goals!
Also, don’t miss our other blog posts all about a variety of different Halloween activities and ideas: 7 Halloween Activities To Encourage Speech & Language & Our (New) Favorite Halloween Speech And Language Activities!
Halloween Whole Group Speech Activity
As school-based speech-language pathologists, we run weekly whole group lessons in our classrooms. We like to use books, songs, and hands-on activities to keep students engaged. By projecting the Halloween picture scene containing hidden vocabulary onto the Smart Board, students can take turns circling each concept. While waiting for their turn, they can check off each word that is found!
We like pairing this activity with “Go Away Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley or “Boo!” by Leslie Patricelli. After our book and search and find activity, we like to end our whole group session with a song such as “If You’re Spooky And You Know It!”. Students will love these Halloween themed activities and won’t even know they targeted all kinds of frightful vocabulary!
Need even more whole group Halloween themed ideas? Check out this blog post: Speech & Language Whole Group Lesson: Halloween Theme
Halloween Sensory Bin
Not sure about you, but our students are always down to get a little messy with a sensory bin. With soooooo many benefits to sensory bins, they are easily a go-to speech and language activity especially when we can an work in some themed vocabulary.
For this Halloween themed sensory bin, we threw in some plastic spiders, eyeball ping pong balls, glow sticks, and the vocabulary cards from our scavenger hunt activity. Have students play while finding the cards. Once they locate a vocabulary concept, they can label, describe, or make a sentence using the pictured word!
To make this Halloween vocabulary idea even more “ghoulish”, turn the lights off to feel the full effects of the glow sticks! So much fun!
Halloween Vocabulary Picture Hunt
To really get your students up and moving, hide the Halloween pictures around the speech office (or even the school!) for an engaging scavenger hunt! Once they find a picture, they can check off the word, color the corresponding picture, or cover the image. See the images below for all three options!
Like what you see? Check out ALL of our themed vocabulary scavenger hunts here: Vocabulary Activity Scavenger Hunt | +40 Themes | Language Therapy BUNDLE
Hidden Picture Halloween Scene
We also have the hidden picture seen in a printable format…full color or black and white! Students can search the picture with a magnifying glass for a silly twist! They can color the pictures in the black and white version or cover with a pom pom/small manipulative in the full color version. Perfect to send home for additional practice too!
We also like to use the included sentence strip during this activity. After locating a Halloween vocabulary word, students can practice increasing their sentence length with the “I found a _______” sentence prompt. Print extras to send home with the picture scene too!
Halloween Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt
As you can see, this scavenger hunt is really many different activities in one! Plan an awesome Halloween whole group activity with the hidden picture scene along with a cute Halloween book. Throw the vocabulary cards into a spooky sensory bin. Get moving and search for the cards then record responses on three different ways. And lastly, use the hidden picture scene for individual students along with the sentence strip.
Grab your copy here to make your Halloween vocabulary sessions extra creepy this season!
Themed Vocabulary Hunts
In case you missed the link above, we do have over 40 different themed vocabulary hunts available! From the basic four seasons to holidays to social science concepts, we are continuing to add more and more themes. These vocabulary scavenger hunts are awesome for not only speech-language pathologists and classroom teachers, but also can be used for birthday parties, daycares, family gatherings, and more! The possibilities are endless! How will you use them?
We hope you enjoyed these spooktacular Halloween vocabulary ideas! Wishing you a fun and safe holiday!
Kate & Mandy
Talking Mama Bears
