These books both lend themselves to being easily transformed into engaging sensory stories.
We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger, illustrated by Miki Sakamoto would be the perfect book to accompany your own autumn leaf hunt. It’s similar to We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, with lots of repetition and simple actions to join in with. Try the following to make it more sensory:
- Cover your learners with a large piece of cloth or silky scarf for the ‘dark forest’. (Children often enjoy this more if the fabric is slightly see-through.)
- Some learners might enjoy a gently spray of water on the hand for the waterfall. Or use a rain stick to make the waterfall noise.
- A ice pack could be used for the ‘cold, cold lake’.
- And of course – add in lots of autumn leaves! If some of the leaves in the story are tricky to find I would just substitute in the names of trees that you have local to you. (This is an American book so one or two of the trees may be rather difficult to find in the UK.)
- You could also try cutting leaves out of tissue paper and letting these fall gently on your learners.
Pick a Pumpkin by Patricia Toht, with illustrations by Jarvis is perfect for a nice straightforward Halloween sensory story about pumpkin carving. The text is rhyming and a rhythmic and not too long.
Use real pumpkins as story props and follow the actions from the narrative. Have some pumpkins already prepared for the different stages of pumpkin carving that the book takes us through. And don’t forget the nice goopy pumpkin seeds!
Choose a few other sensory delights from the pages to include in your story…Halloween decorations (look for spooky toys or decorations that jiggle, light-up or hoot!), spices (for the ‘spicy punch’), leaves and bird noises, witches hats and woolly hats. If possible make the room dark at the end and light up your pumpkins with some electric lights.
Remember – not all of my props recommendations are toys! The props I suggest should not be used by children unsupervised.
For other autumn and Halloween book suggestions see blog posts Spooky Poems Aloud and When Autumn Comes.