[For Seniors] Have Fun Moving with Halloween Exercises! Introducing Songs You Can Dance To
Halloween season is a special time that brings smiles to everyone.
Halloween exercises are gaining attention as recreational activities you can enjoy with older adults while moving your body.
With a little creativity, anyone can join in easily—whether it’s a jerky ghost dance, simple routines using rock-paper-scissors hand shapes, or seated choreography.
Why not move to the music and enjoy that unique blend of spookiness and fun? This time, we’re introducing some extra-special exercises to liven up the Halloween season.
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- Fun Halloween recreation activities at a nursing care facility
- [For Seniors] Handmade Halloween Treats to Enjoy: Fun Ideas with Pumpkins and Ghosts
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[For Seniors] Have Fun Moving with Halloween Exercises! Introducing Danceable Songs (11–20)
A Peculiar Halloween
When we think of Halloween, we picture children roaming through town in search of candy.
This song highlights that connection between Halloween and sweets while capturing the event’s lighthearted atmosphere.
Movements like asking for candy and ghostly motions are incorporated into the dance, so you can have fun moving your body as you look back on the event through both the choreography and the lyrics.
The movements are very simple, so it’s important to think about what each one represents and use big, expressive motions.
Ghost Dance
There are many kinds of what we call “ghosts,” and the way we imagine them moving changes with their different traits.
This song introduces those many types of ghosts and portrays how each one moves.
With a rap-like flow that keeps time with the rhythm, the light, explanatory progression evokes the lively feel of Halloween.
Let’s move our bodies and get a solid grasp of how each ghost moves.
Rock, paper, scissors with pumpkin
How about a cute dance for Halloween? Let’s try some exercises to the song “Goo Choki Paa de Pumpkin.” The “Goo Choki Paa de Pumpkin” dance is sometimes performed on children’s TV shows as well as at Halloween events in kindergartens and nursery schools.
Some older adults with grandchildren might already know it.
Doing these exercises could spark lively conversations about your grandchildren, too.
What’s more, goo-choki-paa (rock–scissors–paper hand motions) is said to have a positive effect on the brain.
Because there are many nerves in the hands, using them a lot stimulates the brain and helps activate it.
A dance that incorporates goo-choki-paa is one of the recommended exercises for older adults.
Tsukiyomi Dance
When you think of Halloween with ghosts, you imagine the night—complete with an eerily shining moon.
This song by King & Prince paints episodes centered on the moon, a symbol of the night.
The rhythm has a distinctly Latin feel, which is striking; match this part with marching in place, moving your body to soak in the song’s atmosphere.
The other movements focus on fully extending your arms upward and side to side; using pom-poms can help draw attention to reaching your hands out even more.
Halloween is a big commotion
We often picture Halloween as a lively scene where all kinds of ghosts gather and make a cheerful commotion.
This piece focuses on that festive Halloween atmosphere, expressing that it’s not just eerie.
While it has a touch of darkness, the overall rhythm is like a march, encouraging you to move your whole body joyfully in time with the beat.
Starting with the ghosts’ swaying motions, it also recreates the movements of various motifs that appear.
As you move, think about what each motion represents and feel the event through your body.
Fashion Monster
Halloween motifs come in many varieties, and the mix of different looks creates a lively visual impression.
This song by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu seems to highlight that festive, bustling spirit of Halloween.
It showcases the liveliness by recreating the distinct movements of each motif, like a ghost’s wavering sway or a Dracula’s attacking lunge.
If you’re performing seated and focusing on upper-body movement, pay attention to your arm angles and the way you apply strength; aiming for shapes that look eerier is recommended.
[For Seniors] Move Your Body with Fun Halloween Exercises! Introducing Danceable Songs (21–30)
Ghost Fireworks Ondo
Ghosts are an essential motif for Halloween, but in Japan they also strongly evoke summertime.
It might be interesting to incorporate this piece—depicting a summer festival scene themed around ghosts—into your Halloween.
A key feature is the inclusion of ondō elements, making the rhythm easy to grasp so you can move calmly and enjoyably.
Express the fun with swaying, ghost-like motions and Bon Odori-style movements.