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Easy to Make In The Tall, Tall Grass Speech Therapy Sensory Bin for Preschool & Kindergarten

When the spring weather starts to appear, so do all my favorite spring books. In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming is one of my go-to picks because you can target a TON of vocabulary and language goals while keeping students engaged. It also pairs perfectly with an insect theme!

If you’re planning an In the Tall, Tall Grass lesson plan, this bug sensory bin for speech therapy is an easy way to extend the book and target articulation and language in mixed groups.

Today, I’m sharing how to create an In the Tall, Tall Grass speech therapy sensory bin that works for insect units, spring themes, and play-based speech therapy sessions. (Amazon affiliate links included for your convenience.)

👉 If you want a full breakdown of how to structure your sessions, you can also check out my In the Tall, Tall Grass lesson plan.

In The Tall Tall Grass Speech Therapy Sensory Bin

  • Grab a bin or container of some kind to use. The Dollar Store has metal tins, or you can find a container at Target that has clasps.
  • Black beans for dirt (or anything you can find that can look like dirt)
  • Green tissue paper, pasta dyed green, or shredded green paper for stuffing presents (I found some at the Dollar Spot)
  • Small insects that you can find at The Dollar Spot, sometimes Target Dollar Spot, at Michael’s where they sell Toobs, or on amazon with the insect Toob set, rabbit and frog in the Pet Toob, a bat from the Wild American Toob set, and the bird toob set for the hummingbird.
  • For all you SLPs on a budget, you can find printables from the book at Simply Speech and use those in the bin.
  • Another way to make “grass” for your sensory bin is to dye pasta green. I posted a quick video tutorial on my Facebook Page that you can watch and see how easy it is to make!
A fun in the tall, tall grass speech therapy sensory bin to use with your preschool and kindergarten students.

Why Use a Bug Sensory Bin for Speech Therapy?

Using a bug sensory bin in speech therapy is one of the easiest ways to:

  • Increase engagement for mixed groups
  • Get higher repetitions for articulation
  • Naturally target vocabulary, verbs, and WH-questions
  • Support play-based learning with minimal prep
  • Aligned with a theme-based approach so you can focus on concepts related to bugs and insects
  • Perfect for a spring speech therapy unit

When you pair a sensory bin with a book like In the Tall, Tall Grass, you can carry over language targets into play, which helps students use skills in a more functional way.

Insect Speech Therapy Activities to Pair with the Book

If you need more bug and insect speech therapy activities to go with In the Tall, Tall Grass, I like to use themed lesson plans so I’m not scrambling to plan for every group.

Inside my insect language lesson plan guides, you get:

  • Done-for-you small group + push-in lesson plans
  • Book cheat sheets for targeting vocabulary and grammar
  • Google Slides and visuals for easy prep
  • Parent newsletters for carryover

👉 You can grab the insect lesson plans here. If you have articulation speech sound goals, you will love these no-prep articulation worksheets that go with the book!

💡 If you’re a member of Themed Therapy SLP, you already have access to these insect units, plus book companions, sensory bin printables, and cheat sheets to make planning even easier.

In the Tall, Tall Grass Book Companion & Activities

If you love using this book in your preschool speech therapy sessions, having a structured set of materials makes a big difference for planning and progress monitoring.

Inside Themed Therapy SLP Membership, you’ll find:

  • Book companions for In the Tall, Tall Grass
  • Story retell visuals and sequencing supports
  • WH-question prompts and graphic organizers
  • Vocabulary and verb practice activities
  • Sensory bin printables and cheat sheets

These tools help you target multiple goals with one activity, especially in mixed groups.

👉 You can learn more about the membership here.

Articulation & Phonology Ideas for  The Tall Tall Grass Sensory Bin

SLPs use articulation flashcards and worksheets to get in high drill practice in their speech therapy sessions. The In the Tall, Tall Grass sensory bin makes it easy to sneak in speech sound practice without feeling like work for your students. One way to get in high trials is to have sound-loaded phrases to use with the bin. 

Here are some examples:

  • I spy _______ /s-blends/
  • I see _______ /s/
  • I caught _________ /k/
  • I will get _________ /g/
  • I like to play with _______ /l-blends/

Can you think of any more functional articulation carrier phrases? You can also work on auditory discrimination by having students judge if a bug or item under the grass has their speech sound. Or, you can print articulation flashcards four to a page, cut out and stick under the grass for students to find their words. Another way I have it set up is to print a whole page of words from my Any Craft Companion and stick it at the bottom of the bin. Then, I cover it with shredded green paper for the grass. Students have to use a magnifying glass to move the grass to reveal words.

In the Tall Tall Grass Speech Therapy Sensory Bin Activities for Language Goals

In the Tall, Tall grass speech therapy sensory bin ideas for preschool and kindergarten.

This In the Tall, Tall Grass speech therapy sensory bin is perfect for targeting a variety of goals in mixed groups while keeping students engaged in play.

  • Story Retell & WH-Questions – Use the sensory bin to retell the story and answer WH-questions (who, what, where, when, why) about the bugs and animals in the tall grass. You can have students sequence what they saw or describe what happened in the story.
  • Grammar & Verb Practice – Target verbs and sentence structure using actions from the book such as hide, fly, crawl, and see. Expand utterances by modeling complete sentences like, “The bug is crawling in the grass.”
  • Vocabulary & Describing – Build spring and insect vocabulary by describing the bugs using attributes (color, size, body parts). Have students compare insects or explain what makes each one different.
  • Categories & Comparing – Strengthen categorization skills by sorting insects into groups (e.g., has wings vs. no wings, flies vs. crawls). You can also work on compare/contrast language during play.
  • Basic Concepts – Target spatial and basic concepts such as in, out, under, above, next to, and between while moving insects around the sensory bin.

Functional Communication – Use the activity to support pragmatic language skills like requesting, commenting, turn-taking, initiating, protesting, and expressing opinions during play-based interactions.


Need More Spring Speech Therapy Ideas?

If you love using sensory bins and want to plan more spring-themed activities, make sure to check out:

  • You might also love these spring speech therapy posts:

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