Halloween is just around the corner. Whether you’re a fancy-dress fanatic or you couldn’t care less about Halloween, you’ll likely have a few little ones knocking on your door some time soon. For lots of us, Halloween brings fond memories of dressing up, carving pumpkins, and going trick or treating door to door. However, for a few of our older friends and relatives, Halloween can be a stressful time.
To help everybody prepare for Halloween, we are going to be looking into some festive activities and ways of staying safe on the night.
Halloween Safety Tips
Below are some important safety tips for the spooky season.
- If you choose to put up decorations, make sure they don’t pose a trip hazard.
- Some people who don’t want trick-or-treaters choose to turn off lights at the front of the house. This gives the impression that nobody is in.
- Alternatively, leave a polite note on your front door: “No trick-or-treaters please.”
- If you do choose to open the door to trick-or-treaters, make sure not to rush. Take your time – after all, you’re giving them some sweets!
- If carving pumpkins, be sure to handle sharp knives with extra care. Consider buying a pumpkin carving kit. These usually contain a small, serrated blade which is much safer to use.
If you have an elderly friend or relative with dementia or a similar condition, consider spending the evening with them. Halloween night could be quite confusing or overwhelming. When people ring the doorbell, help your loved one answer and hand out sweets if they would like to. Otherwise, why not sit down together and watch a film as a nice distraction?
Halloween Activities For Seniors
Halloween may be a part of the spooky season, but it doesn’t have to be scary! There are plenty of seasonal activities for people of all ages. Whether at home, with the family, at a club or in a retirement home… Look at some of these haunted suggestions:
- Share scary stories… Come equipped with a spooky book or have a look on the internet if you’re not feeling creative. Make it a challenge to bring the best story to the dinner table!
- Halloween charades… A great way to keep active and distracted. With 100s of suggestions online, get a group together and get acting! It will crack a giggle, for sure.
- DIY trick or treating. Most seniors may feel silly going around the village door to door but no one is ever too old to trick or treat. This is especially good fun in homes. Let any participating seniors dress up and come to trick-or-treating stations around the room or home.
- Movie marathon… Get Netflix on, get an old DVD, look at what’s on TV… Take a seat and enjoy a hair-raising movie or two on the night.
- Pumpkin decorating is one of the best traditional crafts. If you are worried about them handling sharp implements, give them a Sharpie to sketch out their design. Then you can do the carving instead.
- Get decorating! With a trip to the crafts shop, see what the Halloween pop up stores and supermarkets have to offer or check out what’s stored away from last year. Treat it like you would decorating the Christmas tree.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our spooky suggestions. Why not get in touch on Facebook or Twitter and let us know how you’re celebrating this Halloween?
Staying Safe All Year Round
For more information about our life-saving personal alarm service, please get in touch with our friendly team on 1 800 937543. Alternatively, complete our contact us form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Editor’s Note: we updated this article on 27/10/2020. It was originally published in October 2019.
