With all of the amazing Halloween decorations, yummy snacks, and incredible costumes this time of the year- we wanted to join in on the fun! Today we’ll be sharing all about spooky…scary… speech spiders!! We’ll share exactly how to make them and more importantly, 5 ways to incorporate speech and language into this snacktivity!
Items Needed:
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Pretzels
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Oreos
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Chocolate icing
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Candy eyeballs
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Sprinkles (optional)
One spider will require 1 Oreo, 6 pretzels, 2 candy eyeballs, chocolate icing, and optional sprinkles.
How to make:
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First, twist open the Oreo so one half has icing.
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Take 6 pretzel sticks. Place 3 on one side of the icing and 3 on the other side.
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Close the Oreo. Then, place a small amount of icing on the edge of the top cookie.
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Lastly, place two eyes on top of the icing. You can make your spider fuzzy by coating the rest of the cookie with more icing and sprinkles!
Now that we have the directions to our sweet snacktivity down- let’s talk about ways to incorporate speech and language into them!
The following includes OWLS Therapy Amazon Affiliate links.
5 Ways to Incorporate Speech and Language Skills:
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Speech Sounds
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Print a list of your child’s speech sounds they’re working on. We recommend visiting www.mommysspeechtherapy.com for free lists of every speech sound. They even come with pictures! Every time they complete a step, they can say a word 5 times OR put it in a sentence (depending on what they’re working on!).
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Before the snack, sit down with your child and write down 20 words with their target speech sound in them. This can be your list of words to practice while you make the snack!
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Sensory Bin
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Encourage thematic learning and make a spider themed sensory bin! By using a theme, it provides your child with experiences on relevant vocabulary and language concepts. Your child can then apply what they learned during this directly into daily life!
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Fill your bin with:
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Orange uncooked pasta: https://amzn.to/3POIfTh
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Black uncooked pasta: https://amzn.to/3LVimQK
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Plastic mini spiders: https://amzn.to/3QamnmB
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Spider webs: https://amzn.to/3PIGDug
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Witch fingers: https://amzn.to/3PTF7ph
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Same or Different?
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Pick another insect, such as a butterfly, a caterpillar, or an inchworm, and discuss how they are similar and different to a spider! Then, get outside and see if you can spot one in nature!
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Read Together
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We LOVE books! Check out some of our favorite spider themed books below. Find a book in your child’s collection or head to your local library or bookshop to find a spider book. Then, make speech spiders and read the book together. You can talk about all the things that make spiders unique. This is a great way to promote themed learning and encourage vocabulary expansion.
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“Never Touch a Spider”: https://amzn.to/3tte5O1
“The Very Busy Spider”: https://amzn.to/45qXjwd
“Aaaarrgghh, Spider!”: https://amzn.to/3LUSWCI
“Spinderella”: https://amzn.to/46JYO9S
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Retelling Information
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Make the snack together. Then, have your child retell the steps of how they made it. For added fun- ask a family member if they’d like a spider cookie and encourage your child to make the cookie independently!
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We hope you enjoyed making speech spiders and learning about all the ways to incorporate learning targets. Visit our Instagram account @owlstherapy to watch how we made them and tag us in any of your creations! Be sure to check back to see our next craft!
Have a spooktacular Halloween, everyone!