With so many Halloween books out there- how do you narrow it down?!
Truth be told, I’m still struggling with that (my husband and the friends we had in town visiting pretty much had to peel me away from the Halloween kids’ book section at Target last weekend- but it’s fine. Everything’s fine.)
I have narrowed down some of my favorite books to use at circle, though, and thought I’d do a round-up for you!
Each of these books has their own blog post, so I’ll do a photo and quick synopsis of the areas you can target, and if you want to read more in-depth about how we used it at circle, you can read the individual blog posts!
1. 5 Little Pumpkins
Targets:
-Motor imitation
-Fill-ins
-Descriptive concepts
-Size concepts
-Preposition “on”
AAC:
-Core vocabulary: model “on” (especially with the activity at the end, placing all the pumpkins ‘on’ the gate) and “go” with ‘ready set go’ as you make the pumpkins roll off the gate
-PECS: Have your student request a pumpkin when it’s their turn, and they can come and choose which one they want. OR, if you’re working on attributes with PECS, work on big/small, colors, etc..
-Big Mack switch: Program whichever line from the book the student who needs a switch, will be saying.
Read more in the 5 Little Pumpkins blog post here.
2. Little Blue Truck’s Halloween
One of my all-time favorites!
Speech/Language Targets:
-WHO questions
-Halloween vocabulary
-Animal names
-Animal sounds (also great for speech if you have littles working on CV or CVCV syllables)
-Preposition “in”
Incorporating AAC:
Core vocabulary words to model: in, go in/get in, who, like (“I like this animal”)
PECS: If you’re at the phase where you’re working on “I hear” or “I see”, you can use “I see” to name the animals on each page
Big Mack switch: Program the repetitive line, “It’s me! It’s me!” onto the switch and have the student using the switch hit the button when that line comes up
Read more in the “Little Blue Truck’s Halloween” blog post here.
3. “It’s Pumpkin Time!”
This one touches on the life cycle of a pumpkin, carving pumpkins, and wearing costumes, so it has lots of great October themes!
Targets:
-Pumpkin Life Cycle vocabulary
-Verbs (raking, planting, watering, growing, cutting, pushing, carving, dressing up, trick or treating)
-Following Directions
-Body parts (eyes, nose, mouth/teeth)
Read more in the “It’s Pumpkin Time!” blog post here.
4. “What is Halloween?“
This is a really simple lift-the-flap book, and is great for introducing some basic concepts surrounding Halloween!
Targets:
-Halloween vocabulary
-Pronouns (He is a… She is a….)
-WHO questions
-Matching
AAC:
-Core vocabulary: “who”
-PECS: Request which costume piece they want for trick or treating
-Big Mack switch: Program “Trick or treat” or “thank you” (or both if you have more than one big mack switch or a button that can record 2 messages)
Read more in the “What is Halloween?” blog post here.
5. Room on the Broom
Targets:
-Animal/object vocabulary
-Motor imitation
-Fill-ins
-Following directions
-Asking questions
-Answering “yes” questions
AAC:
-Core vocabulary: model “on” “go” “down” and “in” for single words; for phrases, model “I get on?” “Can I get on?” or “Can I go?”
-Big Mack switch: program “Is there room for me?” or “Down!” onto a Big Mack switch.
Read more in the Room on the Broom blog post here.
What are your favorite Halloween books for preschool?
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