I love when the days start to get longer and longer. It’s Mother Nature’s subtle reminder that spring is coming! Spring is truly one of my favorite times in the speech room. I love all of the fun spring themes like bugs, weather, and gardens! It’s Theme Thursday and today is going to be all about a garden theme! Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies, so I LOVE this theme!
*This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.*
First, let’s talk about all the fabulous garden themed books!
My Garden by Kevin Henkes
A daughter helps her mom in the garden. She helps weed and chase away the rabbits. She dreams of a garden of her very own, a garden where flowers can change colors just by thinking about it and the bunnies are made out of chocolate! I just love the imagination in this book! She dreams of planting seashells and jelly beans! So much fun!
You can use this book to address:
– Describing
– Figurative language – This book is full of similes! “Tomatoes as big as beach balls” and “strawberries would glow like lanterns.” The descriptive language in this book is fantastic.
– Cause/Effect
Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
This is one of my favorites! A child and their mom grow a colorful flower garden year after year! You can address:
-Comparing/Contrasting – The book shows all the different seeds and bulbs that they plant. Talk about how they’re alike and how they’re different! You can also compare all the different types of flowers.
– Sequencing
– Vocabulary – soil, seed, plant, stem, etc
– You can also bring the story to life! I used some felt flowers from Target’s Dollar Spot flower garden and a grass baby bottle drainer!
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Eric Carle’s illustrations are just unmatched. I love his style so much! This story follows a tiny seed on it’s journey across the world. It’s tiny, but manages to survive and become an enormous flower! I love the message of this book, tiny can be mighty! We can’t underestimate ourselves or anyone else. 🙂
You can use this book to work on:
– Sequencing
– Cause/Effect – many of the seeds did not make it for a wide variety of reasons!
– When questions – this story takes place in Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer!
Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
A clever Hare tricks a lazy bear over and over again! I blogged all about this book yesterday! I even made a free literature flip book to go with it! Find that blog post by clicking HERE.
Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash by Sarah Weeks
I’m a HUGE Mrs. McNosh fan! In this book, she grows a squash and it becomes gigantic! What is she going to do? haha
You can address:
– Rhyming
– /sh/ for articulation
– Verbs – This squash crashed, smashed, rolled, and twisted! Mrs. McNosh slapped, scolded, pinched, and kicked! haha
– Problem/Solution: Mrs. McNosh worried about what she should do, but then decided to make it into a house! Such a cute ending!
I used this book in one of my graduate school placements! We read the book and then planted our own seeds! It was a whole group lesson in a Head Start. I love hands-on activities that accompany books!
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
Gail Gibbons is one of my go-to authors for non-fiction books! This book is full of information about seeds and plants! Use it to address:
– Sequencing
– Vocabulary
– Describing – The book talks about all the things that we eat that are seeds and pods! It would be so much fun to bring in a variety of fruits for a taste test!
There are lots of fun toys you can grab to bring spring to life in your speech room! Target currently has some felt vegetable and flower garden sets available. They’re selling out quick though. If you can’t find them, Ikea has felt vegetables and fruits! I found them on Amazon too, you can find them here and here.
I’ve also made quite a few gardening themed packets over the years!
These sheets are so versatile! They can be used as coloring sheets or smash mats (just slip them inside some dry erase sleeves). You can also use bingo daubers or pair it with some felt vegetables! This packet addresses early and later sounds in the initial, medial, and final positions. It also covers /s/ blends, /r/ blends, and /l/ blends.
The words are found inside flower pots! Perfect for a gardening theme! This packet addresses eight different syllable patterns: CV, VC, CVC, CVCV, CVCVC, CVCVCV, CCVC, and CVCC.
You can also grab a seed packet and after a student practices a word they can cover it up with a seed! This idea can be used with nearly any printable or worksheet!
The May Edition of my Articulation Game Boards features four fun themes (gardening, Cinco De Mayo, garden worms, and spring lambs).
Also, how cute are these little gardening tools I found at Target? They would pair perfectly with a garden themed sensory bin!
Lastly, I have a literature flip book companion for The Gardener by Sarah Stewart!
I paired this book with toy felt flowers! The flip book can be found in May’s Flipping For Literature packet! I also blogged about that packet HERE. It addresses comprehension, sequencing, writing, and more!
Do you plan on using a garden theme this spring? What books and activities do you like to do? Leave a comment if you would like to share!
Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!
Let’s connect beyond the blog:
Subscribe to my newsletter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
I love all the book suggestions. I will definitely be making a trip to the library to check out some of your suggestions. I would so suggest There was an Old lady who Swallowed a Frog. I’m a huge Old Lady fan . Sequencing, vocabulary, wh questions are some goals you can address. I happen to have an old lady puppet that my students love to “feed”. She came with items from the original sorry, but o we the years I have found items/ pictures related to the other books. You could use a paper bag or tissue box with a face as well.
Thank you! I’m a huge Old Lady fan too! I love your idea! 🙂