Halloween is a great opportunity to be creative and have fun, festive activities for seniors, especially in assisted living and nursing home facilities such as Blessed Home.

Here are some Halloween themed activities that are suitable for seniors, so they feel engaged while ensuring that they stay sharp and occupied.

1. Make spooky decor. Have them create simple and cheap spiderwebs you can buy almost anywhere especially this Halloween season. Have some yarns and other cobweb decorations such as spiders and other Halloween-themed decorations that can also be made from scratch with just a little creativity.

2. Create spooky candles. You can create Halloween-themed candles out of cheap arts and crafts supplies–and the candles can be lit up to also add a spooky atmosphere to your facility this Halloween.

3.  Whip up some spooky treats. Whether you’re making baked goods or no-bake treats, you can arrange to have seniors join in and help in the process.

4. Halloween-themed charades. Get the seniors and caregivers together and write down as many Halloween-related themes and ideas you can come up with. Then, have fun watching each other mime or act out these ideas and see whose team wins.

5. Homemade costume contest. Encourage seniors to come up with their own costume ideas from masks that they can decorate or other costumes that they can whip up out of arts and crafts supplies.

6. Share scary stories. Hear out some scary and even real-life horror tales from seniors–they may know something shockingly interesting to get everyone in the Halloween spirit.

7. Classic horror movie marathon. Have your seniors volunteer their favorite classic horror movies and everyone can have a movie marathon.

8. Have a trick or treat. Create trick or treat stations around your facility and have your seniors spook it up with costumes and they can go around feeling like kids again–with healthy, appropriate treats, of course!