Care home residents and staff had a 'spook'tacular time getting ready for Halloween with themed activities, decorations and fancy dress!
Read on to find out about the ex'scare'lent activities that went on at our partners' homes over the Halloween weekend...BEWARE freaky things ahead!
Image: Residents at one of Avery Healthcare's homes with their crafted spider webs!
Emerson Grange's Activity Coordinator donned his snazzy pumpkin suit!
At Emerson Grange Care Home, a trolley of pumpkins were delivered for residents to carve and display around the care home. Activity Coordinator, Geoff, who owns over 150 costumes donned his pumpkin suit for the special occasion! Geoff is always a big hit with the residents.
One resident said she hadn't carved a pumpkin since her grandchildren were small and it bought back many happy memories.
Activities Coordinator, Geoff, donning his pumpkin suit!
Residents with their carved pumpkin!
Pumpkin carving & pitting in action!
Baugh House's residents created many spooky decorations to display around the home!
Baugh House's residents started their Halloween decorations early this year in preparation for the 31t of October. The residents enjoyed making window decorations, masks and hanging windchimes!
Resident, David, with his purrrfect creation!
Resident, Barb, with her spider witch!
Guess who? It's resident Rich with his pumpkin mask!
Care UK's homes took part in some 'fang'tastic activities!
Chandler Court's residents Joan and Edna enjoyed wheeling their pumpkins around to show everyone at the home! The home also hosted a 'Freaky Friday Feast' for residents where the kitchen and lifestyles teams put together a delicious Halloween-themed buffet!
Joan & Edna wheeling their pumpkins around the home!
One of the residents with his rather Poirot lookalike pumpkin!
One of the lovely residents at Chandler Court with her very glam pumpkin!
Oak house's residents enjoyed a pumpkin carving session!
Ferndown Manor pulled out all the stops and ran all sorts of events – including judging colleague baking efforts and residents enjoying classic spooky films as part of the home’s fa-boo-lous Halloween celebrations.
In preparation for the event, residents adorned the home with fang-tastic decorations and hand-carved pumpkins which residents picked from a local farm. Later on, everyone took part in judging a special bake-off, with a Halloween skull baked and expertly decorated by team member Stephanie Thorneycroft taking the crown. There was also a quiz to test everyone’s knowledge of classics spooky films.
Sara Muslin, Home Manager at Ferndown Manor, said: “We are always looking to plan interesting and exciting activities for residents, and Halloween gave us a great opportunity to organise some ‘hocus pocus’ fun – all while enjoying delicious cakes which the residents baked as part of the competition.
“Special events like this one are a fang-tastic opportunity to encourage residents to reminisce. Many remember decorating their home with their children or helping pick a costume, so it was great to hear everyone’s stories of Halloweens past.
“We all had a lovely time decorating the home ahead of the event, so we’re looking forward to hosting more spooky activities on the day itself.”
Ferndown Manor resident with his pumpkin cookie!
Avery Healthcare's homes took part in lots of traditional Halloween activities
Halloween traditions were celebrated across all of Avery Healthcare's homes this year, with residents joining in some fun, and of course, spooktacular, pastimes!
Knowle Gate residents practised their painting skills and created a wonderful watercolour Halloween scene with fairy lights (see image below). The beautiful final product now hangs proudly in the home’s activity room for all to see.
Residents at Dukes Court put their own spin on pumpkin carving and decided to doodle autumnal illustrations on them instead. The finished pumpkins were proudly displayed at their scare station, with Well-being and Activities Co-ordinator Simon adding, “By not cutting the pumpkins, they aren’t messy and stay fresh for longer.” Residents helped staff decorate the rest of the home with skeletons, witches and ghosts for Halloween (see image below) and officially renamed the home Dukes Spooks for the occasion.
At Elvy Court, 27th October marked their very own Pumpkin Day, where residents got creative in some pumpkin art with a range of paint colours. Kerry Shepherd, Well-being and Activities Co-ordinator, said, “The results were amazing, and all of the residents who took part really enjoyed doing something a bit different.” The creations were then compiled into one big tower for relatives and visitors to see at their Halloween party.
Ambient Support's residents did lots of preparations for their Halloween party
Residents at one of Ambient Support's services in Norfolk enjoyed prepping decorations for their upcoming Halloween party!
Richard and David preparing decorations for their Halloween party!
Upton Bay enjoyed a live cooking demo with chef, Alex Connell, from Vegetarian for Life. Spiced pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie were on the menu!
Residents at Upton Bay Care Home in Poole have enjoyed getting into the seasonal spirit, with an exciting live cooking demo from the chef, Alex Connell, from Vegetarian for Life.
Vegetarian For Life promotes veggie and vegan living older people’s lifestyles, and carefully curated a pumpkin filled menu for us to cook along with, and try at the end.
Chef Mark transformed freshly picked pumpkins into a deliciously warming Spiced Pumpkin Soup, with an oh-so-sweet traditional pumpkin pie to finish, dusted in cinnamon.
“I haven’t tried pumpkin soup before – it’s charmed me, and I like a bit of spice!” commented Muriel, resident at Upton Bay.
Great Oaks' residents made some spooky mocktails!
Residents at Great Oaks Care Home had fun making spooky mocktails with lemonade, food colouring to change the colour and gummy eyeballs for extra spookiness!
The home also held a pumpkin carving competition for staff judged by the residents and a pumpkin decorating activity. Residents participated in plenty of arts and crafts including decorating witches hats, making spiders with balloons, creating paper black cats with cards, and pumpkins out of toilet rolls and cloth. They also had fun decorating the floors with cobwebs and spiders!
The most enjoyed activity among residents was a themed parachute game with pumpkin styled balloons!
Heritage Manor's homes held pumpkin carving and decorating competitions!
Heritage Manor had a lot going on across all of their care homes with West Eaton, Summerdyne and Newstead all having community pumpkin carving and decorating competitions. View West Eaton's entries here!
The Pumpkin Competition was hot on the heels of Oktoberfest at West Eaton. The care group really likes to find out what is special to each of their residents through their 'See Me Stories' and 'Resident of the Day. They found out some time ago that resident, Lawrence, wanted to have an authentic German-themed food and drink event. Staff held off until October to surprise him with their very own Oktoberfest: a themed event with bratwurst and schnitzel washed down with German beers and ales. It was a dream come true for Lawrence!
Astley Hall Nursing Home had a week of all things Halloween - with Team Astley resplendent in their Halloween T-shirts and getting into the spirit of things! Residents got creative with pumpkin carving and made them into flower vases. There was Halloween bingo and a Monster Mash Halloween party with a spooky singalong. On Tuesday’s bake-off, residents created their own themed bakes. Monster moves were incorporated into the weekly exercise sessions and there was plenty of trick or treating and fancy dress.
Four Seasons Health Care's Homes enjoyed getting into the scary spirit!
From pumpkin carving to Halloween parties, residents at Four Seasons Health Care & brighterkind's homes had a great time over the Halloween weekend!
Resident Elizabeth, from Four Seasons Health Care’s Copper Beeches Care Home in Northern Ireland, carving and decorating her glitter pumpkin for the big pumpkin competition
Residents from Four Seasons Health Care’s Euxton Park in Chorley, had a Spooktakular Halloween party with delicious themed food, a witchy entertainer and spooky party games!
Residents from brighterkind’s The Berkshire care home in Wokingham, had a wonderful afternoon practising for the Big Pumpkin Competition
Dean Wood residents were paid a visit from the Dean Wood witch!
At Dean Wood, residents painted pumpkins, created face masks and made autumnal arrangements for the tables. They also had a spooky encounter with the Dean Wood witch! Residents and staff also had a Halloween party at the weekend.
Dean wood's activities are planned to stimulate the 5 senses in each activity. In October, their dehumidifier filled the air with scents of delicious toffee and apple.
Freelands Croft had a spooky Halloween party with horror-themed food!
At Freelands Croft, Bupa Dementia Care home, they had a spooky Halloween Party with lots of horror-themed food, staff dressing up and a disco to follow!
Invicta Court invited their residents' great-grandchildren to visit in Halloween costumes!
Invicta Court's residents and staff had a fabulous spooky party to mark Halloween. Their residents' great-grandchildren were invited to visit on the day in Halloween Costumes. There were buckets of sweets and decorations in the bedrooms of the residents who had visitors.
The home had a spooky Halloween photo booth set up at the entrance doors so that the children could have their photo's taken on the way in and all children went home with Goody Bags. Certificates and prizes will be handed out to the children for best dressed etc once the residents have chosen the winners from the photos!
Ryeview Manor's residents enjoyed dressing up for their Halloween party!
Ryeview Manor, B&M Care Homes, had a blast at their spooky Halloween party! Residents and staff got into the spirit by dressing up for the occasion. It's safe to say fun was had by all!
Signature at The Beeches' residents enjoyed Halloween-themed tasty treats at their Halloween party!
October 31st was The Beeches Halloween Party! Everyone loves an excuse to dress up at The Beeches and with Witches, Wizards and a Skelton amongst some of the outfits, there was definitely a spooky feel around the place! After lunch, residents and staff enjoyed a sing along with Heidi and a social afternoon with cakes and a very strange looking blue cocktail!
Orchard House had a spooky treats trolley go round the home!
Orchard House had fun dressing up and carving pumpkins to place around the home! They also had a spooky treats trolley go round the home for the afternoon delivering yummy goodies and syringes filled with fruit juice. The residents loved it and said it was so nice that the Orchard House team went out of their way to provide such a wonderful treat for them.
Beechwood Grove had a whole week of Halloween-themed activities!
Beeechwood Grove celebrated Halloween with a spooky week! Monday involved making wreath's to hang on doors around the home and pumpkin carving. The pumpkins were displayed outside the home for the children of Eastbourne to see. A spooky spa day was had by residents on Tuesday with face masks and manicures, finished off with a grand high witches tea party!
Themed snacks were enjoyed on Wednesday and they had the true-crime museum of Hastings come in for a talk. The day was completed with a themed happy hour including melting chocolate bombs and drinking pumpkin-spiced lattes. Thursday was a baking day and residents had a great time decorating spooky cupcakes. On Friday, Beechwood Grove's witches mocktails trolley did the rounds around the home! Sunday was meant to involve trick or treating but unfortunately it was called off due to bad weather. However, the staff & residents were treated to all the sweeties! To finish the week off, everyone came together for the Halloween party and enjoyed music by a live singer!
Belmont House's residents enjoyed a day full of delicious treats...and a few tricks!
All at Belmont House had a spooktacular time at their Halloween party on Sunday 31st October.
Spirits were high, as residents had a day filled with delicious treats... and a few tricks! Belmont House's Activities Coordinator, Elize, held a Halloween themed quiz for residents to test their ghostly knowledge!
