Fun Halloween recreation activities at a nursing care facility
When it comes to big events in October, Halloween is the first that comes to mind!
Many day service staff may be thinking, “We want our elderly clients to experience the excitement of Halloween that’s so popular among younger generations!”
In this article, we introduce recommended recreational activities for Halloween events held at care facilities.
We’ve gathered a variety of content to liven up Halloween at care homes—from easy-to-play games to Halloween decorations that brighten up the facility.
Let’s help older adults fully enjoy the fun of Halloween!
- [For Seniors] Challenge Your Brain with a Halloween Quiz! Fun Trivia Questions to Learn and Enjoy
- [For Seniors] Fun Autumn Activities: Recreation Games
- [For Seniors] Fun Halloween Games: Ideas to Enjoy with Ghosts, Mummies, and Spiderwebs
- Exciting Halloween games! Ideas that will captivate both kids and adults
- [For Seniors] Handmade Halloween Treats to Enjoy: Fun Ideas with Pumpkins and Ghosts
- [For Senior Care Facilities] Fun! Recommended Events for October
- Recommended recreational activities to help seniors enjoy their time in care facilities
- [For Seniors] Let’s Get Excited with Halloween Crafts! Fun and Easy Decoration Ideas
- [For Seniors] Recreation Games Related to October Events
- [For Seniors] Highlights of Fun Events at Day-Service Centers
- Explaining interesting initiatives at nursing care facilities! We also introduce seasonal recreational activities.
- [For Seniors] Enjoyable Day Service: A Collection of Fun Event Ideas
- [For Seniors] Liven Up November Day Services! Fun Autumn Event Ideas
Fun Halloween Recreation Activities at Care Facilities (51–60)
jack-o’-lantern
How about a pumpkin lantern made from reused plastic bottles? By taking advantage of the bumps on the bottom of the bottle, you can achieve a pumpkin-like shape! Use two cut-off bottoms from plastic bottles, finely cut crepe paper in your favorite colors, and stick it on with glue thinned with water.
If you don’t have crepe paper, tissue paper or washi paper will work too.
Let it dry thoroughly, add a pumpkin face, and it’s done! You can fill it with candy or put in an LED light to use as a lampshade—there are lots of fun ways to enjoy it!
Kiki (Kiki’s Delivery Service)
Kiki, the young witch who stars in Studio Ghibli’s beloved film Kiki’s Delivery Service.
When it comes to her outfit, it’s all about the plain black dress and the big red bow on her head.
The dress has a loose, relaxed look, so it might be easy and comfortable for seniors to wear as well.
The large bow can be easily made using a headband or similar accessories.
For her companion, the black cat Jiji, prepare a plush toy or make one out of origami and keep it by your side.
If you add a broom, it will really complete the Kiki-the-witch vibe!
Gummy Choco Pumpkin
The sight of children going around asking for treats is an essential part of Halloween, isn’t it? This song is packed with the fun and cuteness of Halloween and sweets as its theme.
The title “Gummy Choco Pumpkin” represents the shapes of hands used in rock-paper-scissors, and these hand shapes are incorporated into the choreography.
With simple moves centered on hand shapes and ghost-like motions, it’s a piece that lets you move your body while feeling the fun and cuteness woven into the music.
Rock, paper, scissors with pumpkin
It’s a routine themed around pumpkins—an essential part of Halloween—combining the hand shapes for rock, scissors, and paper.
It’s a dance that aired on “Shimajiro no Wao,” and the hand movements to the light rhythm give you a good full-body workout.
The lower body focuses on bending and stretching, and if that movement is difficult, doing it while seated in a chair is also recommended.
While staying mindful of the rock-scissors-paper hand shapes, make sure to move your upper body thoroughly from your fingertips to your shoulders.
Since the quick tempo can be hard to catch at first, it might be good to practice the movements until you’re used to them and then try them with the music.
Fun Halloween Recreational Activities at a Care Facility (61–70)
bat
Let’s try a bat costume, a motif often used for Halloween decorations! Even if you just throw on a black poncho, it will look the part, so there’s no need to overthink it.
That said, simply wearing a poncho can make you look like a witch or Dracula, so cutting the hem into slightly jagged, bat wing–like shapes will make it more convincing.
As Halloween approaches, headbands with bat designs are often sold at 100-yen shops, and wearing one is also recommended.
Soot Sprite
Susuwatari refers to the character called “Makkuro Kurosuke” in the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro.
Susuwatari have a round shape with spiky edges and cute little eyes.
If you’re going to dress up as one, try making the costume yourself.
It can be tricky to capture that round shape, but how about creating something like an oversized wrap towel so that when you spread your arms, people can tell you’re a susuwatari? That would lower the bar for the costume quite a bit.
Thriller dance
It’s that highlight scene from Michael Jackson’s iconic music video Thriller where the ghosts gather and perform a creepy dance.
Since ghosts are an essential motif for Halloween, how about an exercise routine inspired by this scene? Because it’s originally a dance, the steps might seem challenging, but if you sit in a chair and focus on upper-body movements, you can enjoy moving your body.
Replace the stepping with marching in place, and try to faithfully recreate those lunging, attacking arm movements.
It may be hard to match the song’s tempo right away, so it’s best to learn the motions first and gradually increase the speed.