Halloween ideas to celebrate the spooky season

Posted on Friday, 22ⁿᵈ September, 2023

Thrill your Aged Care residents with a Halloween-themed event complete with decorations and delicious pumpkin dishes.

Held on October 31st, Halloween is fun for all ages. It’s an opportunity to get dressed up and be a little silly and scary.

Plan a spookily themed afternoon or evening to delight your residents and get them into the spirit of this 'spooktacular’ celebration.

The term Halloween comes from ‘All Hallow’s Eve’ and dates to a festival called Samhain which was celebrated in Gaelic culture. It is believed the Celts celebrated in costume, but over time the festival merged with Christian beliefs and its traditions, and the original purpose and practices became lost in translation.

Halloween, as we know it, rose in popularity in America due to Irish immigrants who brought their practices with them. Of course, it has since become a highly consumerist holiday and a dentist’s worst nightmare. While Australians and Kiwis don’t have a history of celebrating the occasion, it has grown in popularity over recent years and children (and many adults) see it as a highpoint of the year.

Decorations are a must and there is no shortage of ideas and options. The main colours to choose are green, purple, black and orange. You can also have fun with decorative ghosts, skeletons and fake cobwebs. Hang some streamers or bunting or see if you can find tablecloths to match the occasion.

When it comes to food, there are plenty of ideas. Pumpkin is the most recognised Halloween food and the obvious ingredient choice for an on-theme menu.

Some recipes from our team include:

For dessert, iced biscuits, decorated cupcakes or marshmallows go down well. Chocolates and sweets which aren’t too chewy can be handed out or left on the table.

Jelly is an excellent dessert option, in ghoulish green or ‘bloody’ red. Trifle or pumpkin pie with cream, coloured with food colouring, is another easy way to add to the theme. 

Plenty of Halloween party playlists are available on Spotify or any other music streaming services to get people in a spooky mood. If you decide to show a movie, something more light-hearted and not too sinister is a safe choice.

Suggested Halloween films include:

• High Spirits
• Hocus Pocus
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Muppets Haunted Mansion
• Beetlejuice
• Ghostbusters

Activities could also include decorating biscuits, making cards or creating other Halloween-themed decorations.

Trick-or-treating is of course the most popular activity during Halloween. Include your residents in this fun ritual by inviting them to have a spooky story or joke ready to tell the staff on the day and have your staff armed with relevant treats to give out in exchange.

Download free Halloween menu template and table talker