Enjoying Halloween with your Senior Loved Ones

It’s that time of year again! Witches, ghouls, and goblins galore. They knock at your door with only one thing in mind, CANDY! “Trick or treat,” the kids scream in sinister delight. Keep in mind, if you are the type to hand out toothbrushes, you deserve whatever trick lies in store. Halloween is a fun holiday that is believed to have originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated to commemorate the end of the harvest season. It was also said to be the day where the veil between the dead and the living was at its most thin. The earliest evidence of this holiday can be found in Old Irish literature dating back to the 10th century. So, how can one include our elders in this 1,100-year tradition? So many ways!

Handing out Candy

An obvious one during Halloween especially if your elderly loved one is unable to walk long distances. Seeing a walking pumpkin or baby Yoda come ring the doorbell will bring a grand smile on your loved ones face. It can be a moment to reminisce on times when they were taking their own children out and now they have little ones of their own. My how time flies, trick-or-treat!

Have Grandma or Grandpa Chaperone the Festivities

If your elder loved one is up for it, have them take a stroll with the kids on this fun holiday. It would serve as a wonderful memory for them and an even better one for the kids!

Carving Pumpkins

An age-old tradition! Purchasing the perfect pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, going home, cutting it open, yanking out its guts, all to carve spooky and silly faces on those pumpkins. And don’t forget to save the seeds! They can make such a yummy toasted snack with just a touch of salt.

Making Yummy Halloween-Themed Treats

Aside from Thanksgiving, Halloween is the perfect holiday to completely pig-out! Candy apples, colorful rice-krispies, pigs in a blanket that look like bloody fingers and cookies decorated as ghosts. Get creative! This holiday is a great time to make fun food that the kiddos will love especially when they get to be Grandma’s special helper in the kitchen.

Watch a Scary Movie

From Hocus Pocus to Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, there’s so many great movies to watch during this time of year. Maybe you can show your grandchildren something spooky show from your childhood like the The Addams Family, Nosferatu, or Godzilla. Will they have the same thrill you had when you watched these movies as a child or will they laugh at the cinematography from your youth? Either way, it is a great time to bond with the whole family while you pass around a bowl of sweet kettle corn.

Read the Center of Disease Control's guidelines on how to have a safe Halloween during a global pandemic: https://bit.ly/31QX9A2