Apartment Blog

Isn’t Halloween for the kids?  Adults may never want to grow out of the Halloween costume phase; but, this holiday SCREAMS kids. Here are two main activities they can get involved in on Halloween night:

• 1. Trick or Treating- Kids love candy and their supply of candy will be increased exponentially on Halloween night. Trick or treating allows kids to dress up and walk around the neighborhood to collect candy. Once they bring it home, do your best to inspect the candy. If you’re have kids are participating this year, make sure you are with them at all times during this activity. There are too many things that can happen to just let your kids roam around, even if they are borderline teenagers. You don’t necessarily need to hover at every door, but make sure you can see them as they walk around. This activity is also a good way to meet neighbors and have your kids meet the neighbor’s kids.
• 2. Harvest Carnivals- Not everyone celebrates Halloween, but they don’t want their kids to be left out of the fun either. Organizations will hold Harvest Carnivals on Halloween night to celebrate Harvest instead of Halloween. Harvest carnivals usually have lots of candy and games for kids to enjoy. Even if the kids do a little trick or treating first, they may want to end the night at a harvest carnival where they can meet and have fun with other kids in the community in safe environments.

Make it very clear to the kids what your intentions are before they get excited to do one or the other.  Their friends will surely start making plans early, and you don’t want to thwart their fun altogether.  Let them know what the rules are now.  Have any other ideas of activities for kids?

According to PreRetirement Resources Group, Baby Boomers are turning 50, at an astonishing rate of one every 7 to 10 seconds. That’s more than 12,000 each day and more than four million a year. With that being said, the housing industry has responded to the needs of this generation and their multi faceted preferences. With several housing options available for Baby Boomers and beyond, After 55^TM Housing and Resource Guide offers a comprehensive educational publication representing a multitude of communities nationwide together with companies providing products and services specific to your needs.  After 55 Housing and Resource Guide powers SeniorOutlook.com^TM, which also offers information on moving services, insurance and healthcare.

Outdated stereotypes have portrayed people over age 50 as those slowing down in life, going through the empty-nest syndrome, and so on.  On the contrary, Baby Boomers view turning 50 as beginning a new life.  More and more, adults over 50 are starting second and even third careers, developing new hobbies, and remarrying. 

It is important to note that Baby Boomers account for 50% of all U.S. discretionary income and 65% of the average household worth.¹   By the year 2015, about 45% of the U.S. adult population will be 50 or better.²   With this in mind, marketers should acknowledge the buying power that Baby Boomers have.  This generation accounts for $1.5 trillion in discretionary spending³, making it virtually impossible for them to be ignored as consumers.   Research shows that 34% of Boomers live in households with annual incomes of $75,000, versus only 31% of non-Boomers, affirming that Baby Boomers are more affluent than non-Boomer consumers.

The online market is one of great importance when it comes to the discussion of marketing to the Baby Boomer population.  “Wired Seniors” as they are sometimes called, are the fastest growing demographic group online.⁴ In fact, SeniorOutlook.com was recently recognized as one of the “Most Useful Sites” on the Web for 50 plus adults by PreRetirementLife.com.  It has also been proven that Baby Boomers research products online more often than other groups.⁵ For instance, Boomers purchase products or services online 3% more than non-Boomers. ⁵ Boomers outnumber non-Boomers who research products and services online by 6%.⁵ Nearly 20% of online Boomers utilize social networking sites as well as online chat and IM programs.⁵ 

The Baby Boomer generation will only continue to evolve and break away from the traditional mold of how Americans over 50 live.  Marketers will need to develop new tactics and strategies to cater to this massive demographic.  The Boomer generation holds America’s buying power in the palm of its hand - a potential gold mine for marketers everywhere.

Source: ¹ Deloitte Touche, ² After 50 Marketing, LLC, ³ U.S. Census Bureau, ⁴ Pew/Internet, ⁵ Jupiter Research

Most adults and older teens think that participating in an Easter egg hunt may be a little too childish. Well, we’ve come up with an Easter egg hunt for kids and adults alike to enjoy this Easter!

Hide eggs around your apartment community for kids to find. Place them in fairly obvious spots so the children can easily locate them. So what makes this hunt any different from any other? Well, here is where adults and older teens can participate. Have everyone split into teams; one adult/older teen per child. Everyone starts in one place, like the apartment community center, and the adults/older teens get a list of clues. Each clue lets the team know where to find an egg. Clues like ‘You’ll really break a sweat in here…’ (Answer: sauna/fitness center) or ‘You won’t be at FAULT if you hit it in the NET here…’ (Answer: tennis courts). Creating a thinking game for the older ones will make it fun while also allowing the children to collect the prize and candy!

Another idea I saw that I liked was having a checklist egg hunt. Have eggs that are different colors and give the adults/older teens a checklist of how many their teams need to accumulate to win. For example, 2 blue eggs, 1 orange egg, 4 yellow eggs, etc. For the younger children, they are able to collect eggs as they learn math and colors.

These are just a few ideas to help you come up with some creative Easter egg hunts in your apartment community. Do you have any you’ve done that you suggest for others? Let us know. I’m sure all our friends would like to hear!

Source: www.celebrating-easter.com