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!
Spring Craft IdeaS
Spring snack ideas
SPRING BOOK LIST
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Little Blue Truck’s Springtime by Alice Schertle
The Little Red Hen
by Diane Muldrow
Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms
BY JULIA RAWLINSON
Pop-Up Seasons
by Anna Milbourne
How do Flowers Grow?
By Katie Daynes
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
by Kate Messner
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog!
By Lucille Colandro
Froggy Plays T-ball
by Jonathan London
Spring Things
by Bob Raczka
I Don’t Want to be a Frog
by Dev Petty
Bear Wants More
by Karma Wilson
About the Author
Janene Besch
Director/Speech-Language Pathologist
Janene Besch, née Martin, holds a Master's degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from San Diego State University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego. Janene is a member of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology
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