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Help residents celebrate Halloween by filling your facility with themed decorations for this fun autumn holiday! Here are 7 places in your senior facility to focus on:<\/p>\n
Front Porch<\/strong><\/p>\n Make the outside of your facility more festive by picking up a few harvest-themed items from your local garden center, like cornstalks and bales of straw, to decorate the front porch. In addition, add pumpkins to the d\u00e9cor. But instead of keeping the pumpkins plain, consider adding in fun colors by hosting a pumpkin-decorating contest for your residents, where they can use a variety of paints<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or markers<\/strong><\/a> to decorate. For the contest, supply residents with stencils<\/strong><\/a> to create punchy Halloween sayings like \u201cLife is gourd\u201d or \u201cPumpkin spice and everything nice.\u201d<\/p>\n Another idea for the front porch is to add scarecrows. In fact, host a Scarecrow Competition, in which teams of residents compete to make the best scarecrow by using pillowcases, old clothes, and straw. Then arrange all the finished scarecrows along the front porch.<\/p>\n Next, focus on the centerpiece of the front porch \u2013 the front door. Use an orange and black festooning<\/a><\/strong> to decorate the door. Simply outline the door in the festooning or use the decoration as a garland to make a fun zig-zag pattern back and forth across the whole door. Then use a stapler to attach small Halloween cutouts<\/strong><\/a> to the garland.<\/p>\n Finally, if you plan to host fun evening festivities, add a bit of spookiness to the front porch by using a fog machine<\/strong><\/a>. Just add liquid fog juice<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0anytime you want to create a dramatic and mysterious vibe.<\/p>\n Entry Way<\/strong><\/p>\n Have fun with the entry way of your facility by adding in a few spooky cobwebs<\/strong> <\/a> to set the mood for your visitors. If there\u2019s space available, add in a CD player to play Halloween-themed music like Monster Mash. Additionally, set up a few Halloween props to get your visitors into the Halloween spirit, like a witch decoration<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or a large haunted house decoration<\/strong><\/a>. Encourage visitors to take out their phones to take selfies next to the witch and the haunted house.<\/p>\n Front Desk<\/strong><\/p>\n As it gets nearer to Halloween, inflate orange, red, and yellow\u00a0balloons<\/strong> <\/a> each day to keep at your facility\u2019s front desk to pass out to visiting kids. Turn the orange balloons into jack-o\u2019-lantern balloons by simply using black permanent markers<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to draw jack-o\u2019-lantern faces on the balloons. You can also inflate white balloons and use the black markers to create ghost faces on the balloons.<\/p>\n Be sure to keep a stash of goodies at the front desk for the little ones who visit. Keep candy on hand to pass out, as well as Halloween party favors like glow-in-the-dark bracelets<\/a><\/strong>, jack-o\u2019-lantern pencils<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and black spider rings<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Dining Room Tables<\/strong><\/p>\n Fill plastic jack-o-lantern cups<\/strong><\/a> with orange tissue paper and candies to use as table centerpieces on your Dining Room tables. For more playful centerpieces, simply place disguise glasses<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in the center of the tables for residents to have fun trying them on as they are waiting for their food. In addition, string Halloween paper chains<\/strong><\/a> throughout the Dining Room for added decoration. For a healthy yet spooky snack, pass out some oranges or tangerines that have jack-o-lantern faces drawn on them with a marker!<\/p>\n Room Doors<\/strong><\/p>\n For the apartment doors of your facility, invite residents to decorate masks<\/strong> <\/a> with paint and glitter. Encourage residents to hang the finished masks as decoration on their for Halloween. For those doors that are still bare, like office doors, liven them up by attaching jack-o-lantern cut-outs<\/strong><\/a> or creative Halloween signs that residents can make by decorating autumn-colored construction paper<\/strong><\/a> with paint and glitter<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Activity Room<\/strong><\/p>\n String lots of orange and black crepe paper streamers<\/strong><\/a> throughout your Activity Room to make the room more welcoming this Halloween season. Hang pumpkin lanterns<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0throughout, and keep bowls of candy and also Halloween leis<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0nearby to pass out as treats for those who participate in your activities.<\/p>\n Hallways<\/strong><\/p>\n Get residents in on the decorating by hosting a Halloween Hallway Contest, in which residents compete to decorate the best hallway in your facility by hanging ghosts<\/strong><\/a>,<\/u>\u00a0scarecrows<\/a><\/strong>,<\/u>\u00a0and pumpkins<\/strong><\/a>. To add even more d\u00e9cor, find a bare wall in one of the hallways to attach paper bats<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in a fun flying display.<\/p>\n Find more ideas from Notjustbingo\u00a0on the S&S blog here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n About Not Just Bingo:<\/strong><\/p>\n Not Just Bingo<\/a>\u00a0is an online resource of fun, senior activity ideas for activity professionals of assisted living facilities. They have been providing fun activity ideas online since 2009, and continue to assist activity professionals across the country by creating meaningful and engaging activity ideas for their residents that go \u201cbeyond bingo.\u201d Not Just Bingo feels privileged to help activity directors better the living experiences of their residents while demonstrating that a senior\u2019s quality of life can actually improve when they move to a senior facility!<\/p>\n Want even more ideas each month? Visit\u00a0www.notjustbingo.com<\/a>\u00a0for how-to activity ideas, monthly newsletters, and daily holiday ideas. You can also sign up for the\u00a0Notjustbingo Membership<\/a> to receive specialized activity ideas to keep your residents and staff engaged, active, and having fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"halloween](\"https:\/\/www.ssww.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/halloweendecoration.jpg\")
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