I really need some advice for a Halloween party. My Mom is throwing one for a bunch of mentally handicapped adults. She asked me for some ideas for games they could play. Unfortunately, all that I'm able to find are games for children. Not sure that these games are appropriate for the type of people that will be attending the party. If any of you have any ideas to help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
RE: Halloween Party Games For Mentally Handicapped Adults
By Angel (Guest Post)
Hi Quite likely, the games for children, such a musical chairs etc would be fun. Races, like diapering a doll the fastest, or team games where there is no loser, if you can think of one. Balloon dodgeball could be fun. You might just keep in mind that depending on a person's personality, they may not want to participate in some games. You can encourage it, but refrain from forcing. Some people are more comfortable just watching the play. They can be asked for every game, in case there is one they want to do as they get more comfortable. My daughter is significantly delayed in her development, but loves to feel that she is part of the play that is happening. She will stand and watch and laugh at the goings on.
#1. She could have a clear jar or bowl of different colored M&M's candies (having already counted the number of each color), have a contest to see if they can guess which color you have the most of.
#2. Make a pretend bowling alley, could use decorated 2 liter Pepsi bottles, and roll a ball into them. Knocking down pins makes everyone a winner, whether they get a prize or not, a sense of accomplishment & praise.
Best of luck on your Halloween party!! Sounds like fun.
Clothes Pin in the jar; velcro ball to a target on the floor or wall; remember agility could be a problem to consider. Musical chairs in a bigger group circle--allow room for walkers, braces, assistants helping; singing simple children's songs that were the norm for us growing up in the 50s. My little grandchildren love that group of music. Make do with make-shift instruments such as kettles, cooking spoons, egg cartons (tapping on) marbles rolling in a pie pan, etc. Games such as bobbing for apples, etc could be a scare/torture thing to AVOID. Even the macabe oiled spaghetti, peeled eyeballs, NOT good. I like the bingo using LARGE cards like at retirement homes, toss across games. My special needs brother could keep up with the rest of us, so we seldom revamped games, except to slow down a bit.
Another thought. How about pumpkin carving or pumpkin decorating? Could be done individually or in pairs. You could give prizes for the funniest, scariest, etc. If you didn't want to get involved with the messiness of carving, you could paint them with craft paints, and maybe have something like yarn or raffia to be glued on for hair.
I think the dressup game that is described in this newsletter above would be a good one.
A fun game that I have played with kids, but that I think other ages might enjoy is non-elimination musical chairs. You set up the chairs, circle around. Everyone sits when the music stops -- but everyone has to sit down -- no one is eliminated. As you gradually remove the chairs, people have to sit on each other's laps. It made for a hilarious time as the kids sat on each other's knees, balancing, and yelling things like "here -- sit here -- on my knee{" and trying not to topple over. We worked up to about 10 kids per chair. I am sure this would be a goofy game for teens,too, so I don't see why anyone wouldn't have a fun time with it.
How about Bingo or she could make a bean bag toss game where you use sidewalk chalk to make colored squares on the ground & each color is a different prize. You could use poster board & markers if the chalk doesn't sound good. I also think everyone loves the go fishing game where someone is standing behind a curtain & the fisherman throws his/her line over the curtain. When there is a jerk on the line they pull it back over & there is a prize bag attached to the clothes pin. Whatever ya'll do it will be fun. Happy Halloween!
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