Across the USA Theme – State of Arizona

Arizona across the usaInvite residents to celebrate the beauty of Arizona this May while recognizing the Across the USA themes each month. Honor the Grand Canyon State, which can reach temperatures of up to 98° Fahrenheit in May, with a variety of activities that relate to the state’s culture and history, including the cactus, the turquoise gemstone, sandstorms, and the iconic Route 66.

Cactusacross the usa theme arizona

Pay tribute to the state flower of Arizona, the Saguaro Cactus Blossom, by hosting a fun cactus-themed party on Cinco de Mayo. Decorate your Activity Room with inflatable cactus plants and other fiesta decorations.

For the party, create different activity stations throughout your Activity Room for residents to engage in. For instance, set up a crafts table to teach residents how to make Mexican bark paintings or papel picado. In addition, set up a dance floor to pass out sombreros and teach residents how to perform the Mexican Hat Dance. Also, create a game station where residents can play Mexican train dominoes or even an interesting cactus balancing game . Finally, set up a piñata area for residents to sip on Prickly Pear Margaritas while watching others attempt to hit a colorful piñata while blindfolded.

Grand Canyonarizona state theme

Throughout the month, be sure to add in a few reminiscing activities for residents to recall their visits to the Grand Canyon. Host a story circle activity in which you go around the room and ask everyone to share their Grand Canyon (or national park) story.

For your residents who have never seen the Grand Canyon in person, host a fun armchair travel documentary to show them the canyon’s beauty with a national parks DVD or a DVD about the world’s greatest wonders. As a special treat during the documentary, serve residents pieces of fry bread (a flat-dough bread native to Arizona’s Navajo Indians).

Turquoise

Since turquoise is the official state gemstone of Arizona, provide a few activities that senior activities arizonainvolve the beautiful stone. For instance, provide beading materials, like jewelry cording and turquoise beads for residents to make their own turquoise jewelry.

You an also use an easy-to-assemble turquoise beading kit for residents to assemble. If you have a regular jewelry vendor who makes visits to your facility, ask them to set up a turquoise-themed jewelry counter in your facility for residents to try on and admire the beautiful gemstone.

Sandstorms

arizona themed activitiesWith sandstorms or dust storms being pretty popular in the deserts of Arizona, provide a few sand-related activities for your residents. For instance, assist residents with making sand landscapes using a velvet sand landscape kit. Simply pass out the sand that comes with the kit and have residents apply it to the sticky landscape scenes to create beautiful works of art. Hang the finished landscapes as artwork in your Activity Room for the whole month.

Another fun option is to have residents create their own sand art bottles by using clear sand bottles and filling them with colorful sand. For the project, consider using florescent sand to fill the bottles so that you can use the finished bottles as bright and colorful decoration for the summer.

Route 66

While recognizing the state of Arizona, honor the famous iconic Route 66, a former major highway that connected Chicago, Illinois with Los Angeles, California while running through northern Arizona. For example, encourage residents to recall the glory days of highway travel in the 1950s by passing around photos of popular cars from the 1950s. Ask residents to identify the make and model of the cars. In addition, if the weather is nice, set up a fun Route 66-themed roadside restaurant on your backyard patio for residents to enjoy burgers and shakes. During the backyard activity, play music from the 1950s and invite residents to dance and have fun.

About notjustbingo.com

notjutbingo.comnotjustbingo.com is an online resource of fun, senior activity ideas for activity professionals of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They have been providing fun activity ideas online since 2009, and we continue to assist activity professionals across the country by creating meaningful and engaging activity ideas for their residents that go “beyond bingo.” Don’t get them wrong – bingo is fun, but we want to spread the word that there is more to life than just bingo. Overall, notjustbingo.com feels privilege to help activity directors better the living experiences of their residents while demonstrating that a senior’s quality of life can actually improve when they move to a nursing facility.

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