12 Literacy Activities for Autumn and Halloween

Submitted by Charlotte Cushman on Oct 01, 2018

The school year is in full swing and it's time to celebrate Fall! Halloween is just around the corner and classrooms across the country are full of the buzz of excitement. We would like to share some of our favorite activities to make this fun time of year accessible to students of all abilities and we hope you'll let us know about your favorite activity ideas too!

Multi-Sensory and Experiential Learning

Fall is a great time to explore the textures, smells, tastes, sounds, and sights of the season! From apples to pumpkins, cooler air to crunchy fall leaves, getting out and having meaningful experiences in the natural setting is always the best way to help children who are blind or visually impaired to learn basic concepts.

Using an Active Learning Approach to Pumpkin Carving

Carving pumpkins can be a non-directive activity, which emphasizes the process rather than the product. Find out how to promote sensory exploration and language development using an Active Learning approach.

School-Home Journal

Write about the experience of carving pumpkins together with the child, by encouraging him or her to describe as much of the experience as possible, adding print and braille and actual tactile symbols of the activity (such as pumpkin seeds). This can be sent home in a "journal" to share the experience with families.

Promoting Literacy through Experiential Learning about Fall

Writing a story about fall leaves is a wonderful way to reinforce meaningful experiences for children who are blind or deafblind.

The Leaf Man Sensory Story

This sensory activity is adapted from the book "Leaf Man" and is a perfect Autumn literacy lesson for students with profound and multiple learning difficulties.

Adapting a Pumpkin Thematic Unit for Student with Visual Impairment

Many Kindergarten classrooms focus on pumpkins in the month of October and this unite has been adapted for students who are visually impaired.

Story Boxes, Tactile Books, and Braille

Story Boxes make use of real objects mentioned in the story to reinforce concepts and an understanding of what is discussed in the book. These are a fun way to introduce books to young readers or to students with multiple disabilities. Tactile books are another way to bring literacy to life for students with visual impairments, by including interesting textures and objects as illustrations in the story. Here are a few examples.

Story Box for "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything"

This is a favorite Halloween book and can be made into a story box. Pre-school aged children love it because there are lots of sounds to make and they also enjoy that it is predictable.

Candy Corn: Creating a Tactile Book for Halloween

Create a tactile story about Halloween with candy corn, witches and bats! This sample book was created by a parent and works on counting, as well as braille and tactile discrimination skills.

"Guess What?": Accessible Ideas for Children with Multiple Disabilities

This book has a Halloween / Fall theme to it. It also has a lot of repetition, which would be great for a beginning braille reader.

Interactive Bulletin Board - October

This is a pre-literacy activity using technology to build auditory, listening comprehension, sequencing, and vocabulary skills. It is intended for pre-readers with limited verbal skills.

Braille Design: Jack-O-Lantern!

This braille design of a jack-o-lantern is one of many braille drawings on our site.

Assistive Technology Ideas

Students are always more motivated to practice technology skills when there is a holiday theme. Pumpkins and Halloween add to the fun in these activities.