Speech Therapy Games and Ideas for September (Apple Picking)

September Speech Therapy Themes

“What’s in your box, Mrs. Elizabeth?”

So, I’m here today to share some organization tips and tricks, some free printables, and some links to great resources for Apple Picking!

First off, I use tote boxes by season. I use these very cute Monthly Labels and have 4 boxes: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. I change them out in the back of my car every 3 months and always have my evaluation box with me.

Download a Quick Apples and Acorns Lesson Plan

Visuals

Visual Schedule (I use this for face to face and in teletherapy format). *Research tells us that most children are visual learners. Temple Grandin describes how she “thinks in pictures”, indicating that autistic students also benefit from having clear visuals. Having the
expectations of what to do in pictures along with what is coming next reduces anxiety, increases attention, and increases independence. *www.teacch.com, Grandin, T. (2006) Thinking in Pictures, Knopf Doubleday.

This visual schedule book featured below has been a wonderful asset in our household. I wanted something that would allow my son to see what was going on each day, to manage his time as independently as possible, and to reduce his anxiety (which often presented with repeating the same phrases over and over while looking for reassurance “It’s Monday? It’s Monday?”). It has worked so well! While I was creating this, I made it functional for teachers, therapists, and parents….and created a way for each person to edit it to suit their needs!

Articulation Activities

Book Buddies

I love to use books in all of my sessions. I’ve found that my younger students LOVE the Old Lady series by Lucille Colandro. So I created book buddies to go along with 22 of these books. We use the larger Old Lady in Speech Therapy to feed articulation cards and mini objects.

Find the Books to Purchase on Amazon Here

Find the Old Lady Book Buddies Here

Find the Articulation Cards Here

Sometimes I even get extra creative and turn into the “Old Lady”.

Make it Take it Crafts

My students have also loved having other fun characters to “feed” articulation cards to. I wanted a way to quickly send home what we had learned so that parents could carry things over at home. These print and go characters come with every single sound in every single position. We can fill up an entire session making a character and my preschool and young elementary kids LOVE them!

Dot Art

Fall Dot Art for Articulation Reinforcement is a huge hit. You can use dot markers, bingo chips and magnetic wand, stickers, or crayons. These speech therapy articulation activities are perfect for entertainment during sessions and sending home for carryover practice. You can snag a free sample here. Grab dot art for the whole year right here.

Digital Articulation Activities

Lots of kids are easy to engage in a digital format. Some kids do well in teletherapy. An added bonus is the ability to wipe off an ipad for easy clean up!

I like this apple articulation game for these sessions. It’s fast, easy, and has every sound we need.

You can download a free sample of this articulation game below.

Language Activities

Digital Activities

Apple Picking Set of Categories (5 Games Included): Clothing, Animals, Vehicles, Food, and Fall Vocabulary.

Gestalt Language

Recently, I was part of a discussion surrounding “child led play” within speech therapy sessions. It was interesting to see that many of us didn’t agree on what this meant. Does it mean kids fully run the show and have no boundaries? Does it mean there is some structure in place for the purposes of safety, learning, and teaching? Most agreed that boundaries and choices were part of child led play. This has helped me to rethink my sessions for my gestalt language learners. I offer a combination of what works best for each child, including visuals, boundaries for safety and teaching, and choices. We include child led play and activities to facilitate language, but we also balance this with reality and what life is like when each kid leaves the speech room.

This digital activity allows for child led play and offers gestalt language ideas that slide in and out.

Ten Silly Apples

This book is part of a larger series that kids love. This version stars ten silly apples. Use the repetitive language to help with basic concepts, early reading, counting 1-10, and targeting simple sounds.

My little ones love books they can interact with. It really helps to expand their vocabulary. This was so helpful. Thank you.

— Susan S.

Rated 5 out of 5

Favorite Fall Books

The Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway

Apples by Gail Gibbons

The Mouse’s Apples by Francis Stickley

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

Hello Fall by Deborah Dieson

Counting on Fall by Lizann Flatt

Ten Silly Apples by Elizabeth Hepler

Fall Read Alouds

Hello Fall

Counting on Fall

Pete the Cat: Falling for Fall

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books by Lucille Colandro
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leavesby Lucille Colandro
*There Was an Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Map by Lucille Colandro

* Talk like a pirate day is on 9/19/2021. You can find a post for a Pirate Theme Unit here.

Favorite Fall Games

Two of my favorite games for fall: Sneaky Snacky Squirrel and Sorting Apples.

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel targets colors, counting, etc.

Apple Sorting by Learning Resources is great for learning attributes like sizes and colors.

Alphabet Acorns by Learning resources is great for our little ones whose “Favorite Things” include letters. You can practice core words like open, colors, and sorting.