Each October, Halloween comes with various activities that can be adapted and accessible for individuals who are blind or experience vision loss. Below you will find some fang-tastic examples!

Halloween Classics

Carving Pumpkins

Every house needs a gourd-eous jack-o-lantern! Here are a few fun and accessible ways to make your pumpkin shine!

Keep Carving: To help cut out your design, you may use masking tape or glue on pipe cleaners to your pumpkin to make a textured surface in the shapes you want before you start cutting. If you do not want to use a sharp kitchen knife, some stores sell plasticware that will get the job done.

Lite-Brite: The whole point of a jack-o-lantern is that it glows, right? So how about using your old Lite-Brites to decorate your pumpkin? The illumination on your porch will be loved by children with light perception.

Paint: If sharp tools are not something your household would like to use, paint is a great option for the family! To bring a tactile dimension to your jack-o-lantern, why not decorate your pumpkin with puffy paint this year? You can create striking and textured designs simply by using puffy paint dots.

Haunted House

If you have the guts, try going to a haunted house with a friend who can guide you. If your local haunted house has a contact, call ahead, and talk to someone who may be able to make accommodations for your group if someone is experiencing little to no vision. Brightening the lights or using glow tape can make for an easier haunted house experience if there are many twists and turns.

Costumes

Choosing a costume is one of the best parts of Halloween. If you or your child uses a white cane, it can be easy to incorporate a blindness cane into your costume! You can find creative examples from the Perkins School for the Blind here.

Activities for Younger Children

If your child isn’t quite ready for Halloween parties and haunted houses, there are plenty of ways to incorporate tactile, sensory experiences for them to enjoy.

Spooky Sensory

Feel Boxes: Have your child guess what edible zombie part they have in their hands! Is it brains (made from cold-cooked spaghetti)? Or eyeballs (peels grapes)? You can find more creative examples here.

Guard Exploration: Remember the jack-o-lantern your family made? Let your child explore the seeds and goo inside the pumpkin as you’re scooping it out.

If your child is adverse to touching sticky things, you can place all these items in a ziplock bag for a cleaner exploration.

Fall Decorations

Head outside to collect some leaves, twigs, pinecones, and more! Use what you find to make an autumn collage to hang around the house.

Halloween Treats

When in doubt, bring out the sweets! Easy cooking activities include baking pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie, or making candy apples. Do not be afraid to get messy by adding your favorite toppings like Oreo bits, pecans, peanuts, and more. Make sure to enjoy with a mug of warm apple cider.

No matter what activities you choose to enjoy, remember to stay safe this Halloween.

Have a Happy Halloween!