Spooky, Fun, and Speech-Savvy: October Activities for Speech Therapy 🎃

Hello, fellow SLPs and speech lovers!

October is one of my favorite months to spice up therapy sessions. Fall vibes, pumpkins, ghosts, and all things Halloween add seasonal excitement — and they’re the perfect backdrop for language learning and articulation. Below are go-to activities I use with my K–5 caseload this month. Let’s make speech therapy magical.

📖 Story Time & Language Targets

One of my go-to books in October is Halloweiner by Dav Pilkey. It’s a great pick for mixed groups because it offers multiple ways to target different speech and language goals:

• Articulation: Have students hunt for words on each page that contain their target sounds, then say them.

• Fluency: Ask questions or have them retell parts of the story using their fluency strategies.

• Comprehension: Use WH-questions to elicit deeper understanding of characters, plot, or predictions.

  
  

Bonus: I created a bundle that includes a printable worksheet, a Google Form version, and Boom Cards — so you can easily adapt for in-person or teletherapy. Click the picture below to be taken to this product on TpT.

🎯 Reinforcers / Game Time

Kids love cause-and-effect surprises, so I reach for Don’t Wake the Zombie: An Interactive Game during October. It’s like Pop-Up Pirate, but spookier: click numbered graves, and one triggers a zombie wake-up. Once the zombie’s awake, the game ends — perfect to keep kids on their toes.

Use it as a reinforcer between targeted tasks or wrap up a session with it. Click the picture below to see this game on TpT.

🗣️ Articulation Fun

Halloween-themed articulation decks are a must. Here’s how I use them:

• My Halloween Articulation Boom Cards bundle targets sounds like /f, v, k, g, s, z, r/ — in the beginning, middle, and end of words.

• Students click ghosts to uncover trick-or-treaters while practicing their sounds — the spooky touches make the work feel like play.

  
  

These make great reinforcers, too — you can switch from one target to another while still keeping things Halloween-y. Click the picture below to be taken to these decks on Boom Learning.

My kids LOVE David Sindrey's Boom Card games and Halloween Meanies was definitely a favorite. Some of my kids were still asking to play it in May! These decks contain minimal pairs for working on 12 different phonological processes as well as a reinforcer deck that can be used with any activity. The Meanies in the big house on the hill have taken all the treat bags from Wanda’s friends and you need to help her get them back!! Click the picture below to be taken to these decks in the Boom Learning Store!

David Sindrey's Witch's Brew Boom Cards are also an October favorite. These decks also contain minimal pairs for working on 12 different phonological processes as well as a reinforcer deck that can be used with any activity. Hansel & Gretel have gone back to the Witch's house. She has a magic jellybean and if you plant it in your backyard, a candy tree will grow! The Witch is making a brew, though, that moves the magic wall and it might just trap them. You need to help them escape before they have to stay for lunch (and not in the good way)!! Click the picture below to be taken to these decks in the Boom Learning Store.

🗣️ Fluency & Strategy Practice

Fluency goals sometimes live in mixed groups with articulation targets. In October, I often bring out Feed the Pumpkin: A Stuttering (Easy Onset) Deck.Use it to introduce Easy Onset strategies in a seasonal context. Kids enjoy feeding the pumpkin — and you sneak in fluency techniques.

🧠 Language Boosters

One deck I love is my October Calendar Concepts Boom Cards — it’s designed for your entire K–5 caseload. You can target:

• Categories, compare/contrast

• Calendar vocabulary (days, months, seasons)

• Venn diagrams comparing holidays/seasonal traits

  
  

Younger students (K–2) can focus on category sorts, while older ones (grades 3–5) can practice calendar concepts.

This Halloween Categories Boom Card Deck by The Speech Banana is great for the young learners on my caseload. They can practice sorting items into the correct category. Click the picture below to be taken to this deck in Boom Learning.

🧩 Following Directions (Fun & Spooky)

I’m a big fan of thematic direction decks — here’s how I use them:

• Temporal / Sequential Directions: before/after, first/then, first/second/third, between

• Quantitative Directions: more/fewer, most/least, etc.

• Spatial Directions: above, below, next to, to the left/right

  
  

All are Halloween-themed and include drag-and-drop or click-based response formats. The audio ensures students can hear the directions — this is especially helpful in teletherapy or for students needing extra auditory support.

🕵️ Inferencing & Comprehension

Inferencing is such a key skill — Halloween is the perfect hook. Here are some of my go-tos:

• Mr. Waffles Wants a Costume — students get clues from Mr. Waffles (a cat!) about his Halloween costume.

• Spooky Clues Freebie — no prep, early-inferencing activity.

• Making Inferences – Short Passages — read a passage, then deduce meaning through cues.

• Inferencing Task Cards: Fall Edition — visuals + stories, so you can meet students at different levels.

  
  

I mix simpler clues for younger kids, and short paragraphs for my more advanced students—always with a Halloween spin.

👂 Listening & Recall

One favorite is Halloween Color by Comprehension (English/Spanish). Students hear a short text, answer WH-questions based on it, and color the image according to their answer. It combines auditory processing + comprehension + art, and it’s always a hit.

📊 Progress Monitoring & Wrap-Up

By the end of October, many of us are wrapping up the first quarter. I carve out time for progress monitoring, using my SLP Quarterly Data Collection Charts (which include probes in expressive language, phonological awareness, following directions, and articulation).

Many of the students on my caseload have difficulty working independently. To juggle progress monitoring with small-group therapy demands, I often let the students watch an episode of The Magic School Bus (I love “In the Haunted House”) while I pull students individually to assess. The themed worksheets help tie it back to language goals.

My Halloween Themed Boom Card Bundle contains all of my Halloween decks listed above with a 30% savings!

Let October’s magic infuse your sessions — kids love the season, so lean into that energy. With a little planning, you can make progress and have fun.