Welcome back to the Emerge Pediatric Therapy Blog! Today, we’re sharing Gestalt phrases you can use at Halloween, or other days that might include new or different experiences for you & your kiddo!
Halloween is full of opportunities for communication! There might be conversations about costumes, deciding if you’re going to carve your pumpkins, picking out spooky (or unspooky!) decorations and trick-or-treating, if thats your jam! The holiday brings plenty of excitement, plenty chances for new experiences, and sometimes big emotions.
For children who are gestalt language processors, these moments can provide meaningful opportunities to model language in a fun, natural way. Let’s explore how you can incorporate gestalts into your Halloween festivities!
What is a Gestalt?
Gestalts are intonationally defined units of language that are often acquired during a highly emotional time. Halloween is a holiday that can bring out lots of big emotions such as excitement, frightened, ecstatic, frustrated, and overwhelm – the perfect opportunity to model a variety of gestalts. Lots of children may have trouble processing these emotions and communicating effectively while in a heightened state. Providing functional gestalts can be helpful for children to be more successful communicators. Functional gestalts can be broken into different categories such as commenting, protests, transitions, shared joy, joint action, new situations, help/self-advocacy, and sensory motor experiences. We have provided a list of gestalts that can be used to ensure a fun Halloween experience!
Commenting
- “That house looks scary”
- “This candy is so yummy”
- “Your costume is awesome!”
- “I like your costume”
- “This Jack-O-Lantern is cool!”
Joint Action
- “We did it!”
- “Let’s go!”
- “We got the candy!”
Protesting
- “I don’t want that”
- “Stop I don’t like it”
- “No I don’t want to go to that house”
- “I don’t like that candy”
New Situations
- “This looks different”
- “This is new”
- “I don’t know about this”
- “I’m not sure.”
Transitioning
- “Let’s go trick-or-treating”
- “Let’s go to another house”
- “Let’s go this way”
- “Time to go home”
- “I’m done trick-or-treating”
Help & Self-Advocacy
- “I need help”
- “This is tricky”
- “Help open my candy”
- “I feel scared”
- “This bag is too heavy”
- “I want the chocolate candy”
Shared Joy
- “This is fun!”
- “I feel happy!”
- “This is so exciting!”
- “This is my favorite!”
- “Happy Halloween!”
Sensory Motor Experiences
- “It’s too loud”
- “I need a break”
- “I feel tired”
- “Let’s jump to the next house”
- “Let’s run”
- “This candy is chewy”
The best part? Modeling gestalts doesn’t have to feel like a structured activity or homework. As you move through Halloween festivities, look for natural opportunities to model short, meaningful phrases that match what your kiddo may be experiencing – and don’t be afraid to repeat them to build familiarity.
No matter how new or different an experience is for them, your words can help give communication to those moments. Try using an expressive tone, adding sing-song cadence to your words, repeating familiar phrases, and allowing your child plenty of time to respond in their own way. The goal isn’t to encourage your child to repeat every phrase or say the “right” thing at the “right” time. It’s to create opportunities for connection, communication, and shared experiences while honoring your child’s individual communication style and comfort level.
If you’re ready to start your Speech Therapy journey at Emerge, click here to fill out our Initial Inquiry Form. We’ll see you next time on the Emerge blog!
Blog by Amanda Kane, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
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