Help Your Aging Loved One Have Fun on Halloween
Halloween is fun for all ages, but elderly adults who are homebound or otherwise restricted physically can struggle to enjoy it to the fullest. Illness, injury, and age-related conditions can affect an elderly person’s ability to move around and diminish their stamina when it comes to late night events. Missing out on fun times, however, can make seniors feel depressed and isolated.
Elder Care in Kentwood MI: Halloween Fun
Family caregivers with aging relatives who want to participate in the festivities surrounding the holiday may be struggling to figure out what to do to keep them safe and comfortable while finding ways for them to enjoy themselves. Here are some ideas on how family caregivers, friends, and elder care providers can help elderly adults have fun on Halloween.
- Make Halloween cookies or cupcakes with the help of family members or elder care providers.
- Watch a cute Halloween movie or two. Or, if the elderly adult enjoys more scary movies, watch some classic horror movies together.
- Paint faces on pumpkins with grandchildren. It’s a good idea to skip carving pumpkins with knives for both seniors and children.
- Make pumpkin soup and warm rolls to celebrate the harvest.
- Indulge in some Halloween candy. However, seniors should avoid hard candy or sticky candy as that can ruin dentures or become a choking hazard.
- Create a fun costume for a family or community Halloween party, with help from family caregivers or elder care providers. The costume should not interfere with the aging adult’s ability to walk, see or hear.
- Invite family members or friends over for treats and ghost stories. There are many funny and creepy ghost stories available online that are suitable for all ages.
- Read a classic scary book about Frankenstein or Dracula, or some of the works of Edgar Allen Poe.
- Visit a pick your own pumpkin patch and choose one to bring home. Because some may not be senior-friendly, family caregivers should check ahead of time to ensure the place is walkable or can accommodate a wheelchair.
- Attend a free community Halloween event at the senior citizen’s center, park, or school. Many Halloween events are advertised in local community calendars.
- Welcome trick or treaters with the help of a family member or elder care provider to answer the door or sit outside on the porch with them.
- Watch a documentary on something related to Halloween, like ghosts, UFOs, or monsters.
- Make hot cider or hot chocolate to sip, then sit outside in the crisp fall air.
- Create some Halloween crafts, then display them or give them away to neighbors or friends.
- Decorate the front yard or front door with a Halloween theme.
- Attend a community-sponsored Halloween costume contest.
- Plan a Halloween-themed outing, like to the zoo, play, or a concert.
- Drive around the neighborhood with a family member or elder care provider to look at Halloween yard décor.
Halloween can certainly be fun and enjoyable for seniors, even when they are limited by what they can do or where they can go. If they have a strong support system of family, friends, and elder care providers, the elderly adults can really thrive.
If you or someone you know needs help with elder care in Kentwood, MI, contact Gauthier Family Home Care. We provide quality and affordable home care services in our community. Call us at (616) 258-2300 for more information.
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