Today I’m sharing my favorite 8 classroom themes for October that I use in my autism classroom. I tend to rotate through these over the years and I love being able to just pull out resources from the year before to save me re-prepping and re-creating everything again!
Underneath each of the themes below, I’ve linked some of my favorite resources for you to make your planning easier too!
1. Fall/Autumn
I think October is my favorite month for focusing on Autumn/Fall because that’s when we really see the changes of the season where I live. I love going for leaf hunts and having students identify the changes that we see around us.
Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
2. Harvest
I love a ‘Harvest’ theme because it provides so many opportunities for our students to take part in sensory experiences. From exploring textures and colors of fruit and vegetables.. To learning about the science behind the growth and harvesting of crops. Plus it’s the perfect excuse for a trip to the farm! I love that this theme naturally ties into gratitude and thankfulness in the classroom too. I like to collect food from parents/families and we use it as a time to put together food donations for the local food banks – which are more in demand now than ever before!
Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
3. Halloween
I know not everyone celebrates holidays in their classroom.. But Halloween is always popular here and it’s a theme my students – and their families – love too! It’s a fun way to teach my students about different concepts like changing seasons, holidays and different cultural traditions.
There are so many fun ways with this theme to work on language, social interactive, creativity, inclusivity and diversity. Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
- Free Witch Sensory Bin
- Who Poisoned Frankenstein? Crime Scene
- Mr Pumpkin Goes Trick or Treating Adapted Book
- Halloween Movement Breaks
- All Halloween Activities Here
- Pinterest Board of Ideas
4. Pumpkins
I may be biased with this one because nothing excites me more than taking my students on a field trip to the pumpkin patch! Pumpkins are a great theme to teach about because they work for all ages and abilities! With things like learning about their life cycle, measuring and weighing the different pumpkins we picked at the patch and even exploring their history and the cultural significance of pumpkin carving!
We also like to use them to teach students about healthy eating habits – and we talk about all the different ways we can use pumpkin for food – and even drinks!
Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
- Skittle Pumpkin Experiment
- Erupting Pumpkin!
- Free Jack O’ Lantern Play Dough Mats
- How to Carve a Pumpkin Adapted Book
- Mr Pumpkin Goes for a Fall Walk Adapted Book
- Free 2D Shape Pumpkin Play Dough Cards
- Pinterest Board of Ideas
5. Fire Safety
I love this theme and it’s one that is very important to me. It’s also a great time of year to have guests from local fire stations come in and do some activities or take a trip to the fire station. It gives me an opportunity to teach my students about being safe. And I can really spend time on helping all of my students understand fire, fire safety and what to do if they see a fire. I know families especially appreciate when we do this theme.
Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
- Firefighters Adapted Book
- Visiting the Fire Station with Real Photos Adapted Book
- Free 2D Shape Fire Safety Play Dough Cards
- Fire Station Dramatic Play Area
- Fire Safety Activity Pack
- Free Fire Safety Puzzle
- Pinterest Board of Ideas
6. Spiders
This is a theme I have to warm myself up to each year – because I am terrified of spiders!! But it’s a great opportunity to teach students all about spiders and how important they are and their role in nature. It’s also a great theme to do if you don’t want to do anything directly ‘Halloween.’
We talk about the different types of spiders, their habitats and we work on a bunch of research and creative projects. My students really enjoy this theme and I do see the difference it makes in their attitudes towards spiders too. (It definitely helps with mine!)
Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
- Spider Rhyming Task Box
- Types of Spider Comprehension Pack
- Spider Counting Play Dough Mats
- Types of Spider Adapted Book
- Spider Activity Pack
- Pinterest Board of Ideas
7. Bats
Generally, anything to do with animals my students love. And bats are always a fun one to do in October. Especially if you don’t want to focus on anything overly ‘Halloween.’ Bats still fit the bill really nicely. I spend time teaching about the different types of bats, their habitat and even they role in our ecosystem.
We love to make different bat themed sensory activities, crafts and reading lots of books about bats.
Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
- Bat Boom Cards
- Free Bat Color Matching Boom Cards
- Bat Feelings Task Cards
- Facts About Bats Flip Book
- Pinterest Board of Ideas
8. Monsters
I LOVE a monster theme. This one we have done recently and honestly my students couldn’t get enough of it! It’s such a fun theme and you can do so much with it. We even got to work on our social skills, emotions and self-regulation!
I found that this theme is actually a great way to use monsters to teach about empathy, fear and dealing with anxiety. Plus there’s just so many fun activities to do with monsters. We all got to make our own monster story and that was a huge hit!
Here are some of our favorite activities that you may like;
- Monster Adapted Books
- Free Monster Sequencing Task Box
- Monster Feelings Play Dough Mats
- Free Monsters Directed Drawing Worksheets
- All the Monster Activities Here
- Pinterest Board of Ideas
What theme do you have planned for October? Leave a comment below!
If you found this ‘8 Classroom Themes for October’ blog post helpful, please consider sharing it with friends and colleagues on social media.
P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of my VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.
Nikki
