As the saying goes… April showers bring May flowers! The beautiful spring weather is finally here to stay, and we simply can’t get enough!

Today, we are sharing all about the theme of spring- bugs, flowers, weather, oh my! Implementing themes within learning is so important. Research shows it helps children make connections between concepts, assists with inferencing and predicting skills, develops deeper understanding of functions and categories, and improves vocabulary and semantic relationships (Hadley et al., 2018). Overall, themed lessons build connections between concepts and help promote generalization to daily life.

Because of this, speech-language pathologists often incorporate themes within their therapy sessions. For example, during spring, an SLP may utilize a book and craft that fit within a bug theme. They may read a book about the life cycle of caterpillars turning into butterflies and make a butterfly craft. By using a theme, it provides the child with experiences on relevant vocabulary and language concepts. The child is then able to apply what they learned during the session directly to daily life- how functional is that?!

Looking for ways to incorporate a spring theme at home? Switch up the bookshelf with relevant books toward the front, make a themed snack, create a craft, or plant a flower outside. There are so many ways to make themed learning fun and functional. Below we have included some ideas to do just that this spring! Check out some of our recommended books, spring crafts, and snack ideas to partake in this season.

Happy Spring!