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Whether you work with preschoolers, elementary, or older students, planning with October speech therapy themes makes lesson prep easier and more engaging. From pumpkins and spiders to Halloween fun, this month is packed with opportunities for seasonal and holiday themes. In this post, I’ll share ideas to help you plan across your caseload with minimal stress.
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As SLPs with high caseloads, remember—you don’t need to change your theme every single week. Sticking with a theme for 2–4 weeks saves planning time, prevents burnout, and allows students to practice skills in a familiar context. If you want to dive deeper into planning tips, check out my Real Talk SLP podcast episode 45.
Use my FREE Themed Therapy Planner & Idea Guide to map out your fall speech language activities for the whole year. You’ll get monthly ideas plus an editable lesson plan template to keep track of what works with your caseload.
If you like planning ahead, this resource is a great starting point for organizing speech therapy themes by month. You can easily plug in the October speech therapy themes from this post and then look ahead to November, December, and beyond.
When planning October speech therapy themes, there are so many ways to make your sessions festive and functional. Using fall speech and language activities keeps therapy connected to what students are experiencing in the world around them. If you love mapping out speech therapy themes by month, October is a favorite because it blends fall changes with fun seasonal topics like pumpkins, spiders, bats, and even Halloween.
Fall is the heart of October! Use books, sensory bins, and crafts to target multiple goals. Try:
Pumpkins are perfect for describing, sequencing, and vocabulary! You can make a sensory bin, do crafts, or read pumpkin books. Explore:
Leaves provide a natural, low-prep theme. Collect real leaves or use picture cards to practice comparing, describing, and categorizing. Great ideas here:
Bats tie in with both fall science and Halloween. You can use nonfiction passages, books, or videos to teach facts about bats and build vocabulary. We offer a mini-themed unit as part of the Themed Therapy SLP membership.
Spiders are a hit in October, especially around Halloween. Try crafts, nonfiction passages, and spider toys for hands-on play. Grab activities from Spider Speech Therapy.
October wouldn’t be complete without Halloween! You can mix in fun monster activities, costumes, and spooky stories. Try:
Some SLPs also incorporate ghosts or witches into their October sessions, but if you’d rather use alternatives, themes like pumpkins, bats, spiders, or monsters are just as festive and often more student-friendly.
What October speech therapy themes could you plan to use with your Prek-8th grade caseload? Pick a theme that is easy to adapt for many ages and skills.
Bring in these fun national days for easy lesson hooks:
October is also Fire Safety Month, which is perfect for a community helpers tie-in. Check out:
If you didn’t get to apples in September, it’s still a great fit for early October. Try Apple Speech Therapy Activities for books, sensory bins, and pretend play. Many of your students visit apple orchards, prepare apple desserts or enjoy warm cider during the fall season!
You want to consider your student’s you serve and what could be happening in the classroom. And, you can want to think about how long you can do the theme. If you have enough books and materials for 2-4 weeks, that makes therapy planning easier. The fall season is easy to break down for more than two weeks by focusing on leaves, changing weather, fall clothes and activities, and harvesting food like pumpkins and apples. Other easy-to-adapt themes are Halloween, or spiders for a Halloween alternative. Picking a theme is unique to your students, and you!
For preschool and elementary, pumpkins, leaves, and spiders are hands-on and concrete for working on vocabulary, sequencing, and play. Older students may enjoy nonfiction themes like bats, fire safety, or food holidays, where you can incorporate compare/contrast, comprehension, and functional communication.
If you are looking for themes in October that are easy to adapt for younger and older students, pumpkins, Halloween, or the fall season are great for all ages because these are topics Prek-8th experience. For example, with a pumpkin theme, you can conduct experiments with pumpkins or learn about them through YouTube videos and Gail Gibbons’ book, “The Pumpkin Book.” With younger students, you can do the pumpkin life cycle, carving pumpkins, do pumpkin crafts, or making playdough pumpkins.
Not all students celebrate Halloween, but you can still enjoy the season with October themes like pumpkins, bats, spiders, scarecrows, harvest, or even a fun escape room theme. These options keep therapy festive without focusing on Halloween-specific traditions.
Using themes in speech therapy means choosing a central topic (like pumpkins, bats, or fall leaves) and weaving it into your activities, books, crafts, and play. This approach saves planning time, increases student engagement, and helps you cover a wide range of goals in context. If you’re new to theme-based therapy, check out these helpful resources:
October is such a fun month to bring in fall speech and language activities that keep students engaged while targeting their goals. Whether you’re focusing on pumpkins, spiders, bats, or Halloween, there are plenty of ways to adapt each theme for younger and older students.
Don’t forget—you can save time and stay organized with my FREE Themed Therapy Planner & Idea Guide. And if you want ready-to-use units, the Themed Therapy SLP Membership has you covered with pumpkins, spiders, fall, and mini-themes like Halloween, monsters, and bats.
I’d love to hear—what October speech therapy themes are you planning this year? Share in the comments below or tag me on Instagram @themedtherapyslp so I can feature your creative ideas!
