Halloween is one of the most loved holidays at The Baddour Center! It’s everyone’s favorite dress up month. We’ve thrown quite a few Halloween parties, and these are our favorite party ideas, costumes, and tips for how to make this spooky holiday fun for everyone!
Spooky Sensory Buckets
When most people hear the term “sensory stimulation”, they may not realize that it is beneficial for people of all ages. Sensory stimulation is very beneficial for adults with disabilities as well. A fun Halloween game is to fill buckets or bowls with things such as peeled grapes (eyeballs), boiled noodles (brains), and other things that will feel like spooky items. An exciting way for participants to feel them is to make it where they can’t see them, such as putting cloth with a slit cut over the bucket or making them reach through a hole to feel them. Not only is this fun, but the sensory stimulation can help to improve the well being of persons with disabilities.
Build a Jack O Lantern
For inexpensive yet spooky fun, download free printables of pumpkins online, and print them off. Also print off and cut out eyes, mouths, noses, and other things that could go on a pumpkin face. You can either use glue or tape to attach the faces to your pumpkins. Let your imagination run free as you mix and match to “carve” the ultimate spooky Halloween pumpkin.
Pumpkin Pie Slime
Another Halloween themed sensory experience is to make pumpkin pie slime. There are a number of both edible and non-edible versions on the internet. Not only is making the slime fun, as you get to mix everything together and watch it come together, but it’s fun to play with. You can make Halloween shapes using cutters as you would Play-Doh, or just twist and stretch it.
Halloween Sensory Bottle
An easy 5-minute craft is making a Halloween sensory bottle. All you need is an empty water bottle, cooking or baby oil, small Halloween items (such as googly eyes, plastic spiders, etc), food coloring, and a hot glue gun.
First remove any labels from the water bottle, and thoroughly clean it. Fill it halfway with water, and add a few drops of food coloring. You could use any Halloween color, such as orange, purple, or green. It depends on what Halloween items you have! Shake until the food coloring is mixed into the water. Fill the rest of the way with oil, add your items, and then hot glue the cap shut.
You can use any combination to make these spooky! You could use green with googly eyes to make a monster, orange food coloring with plastic spiders, and more. The options are endless!
Spooky Halloween Snacks
No Halloween party is complete without snacks. Here are several spooky treats that will be the hit of any party!
DIY Halloween Costume Contest
Hit up the dollar store to get everyday household items that you can turn into a Halloween costume. Set the box out and set a timer for 30 minutes, giving participants the creative freedom to make whatever they can think of! You can have a lot of fun with this, such as using toilet paper to become a mummy, felt pipe cleaners to become a spider, and more.
Contact The Baddour Center
If you have any questions or any suggestions of other fun Halloween activities for individuals with disabilities, please contact us! We look forward to hearing from you.