Garden Craft Ideas For Senior Living

One of my favorite things to do with our residents at Kirkwood Corners are crafts. We usually craft a few times a week, sometimes a craft pertaining to our theme of the month sometimes we just doodle and see what we make. Recently we created some garden decorations for our butterfly and veggie gardens with the color me products from S&S.

Color-Me Crafts:

• Gnomes
• Suns
• Bird Canvas

We used acrylic washable paints for both and seal coated it with some sort of spray paint sealer from the hardware store.

Gnome Craft

The little gnomes were a huge hit! The residents each painted their gnome different colors with acrylic paint. One even painted hers to look like Santa! Once they were all painted and had a chance to dry, I sprayed them with a protective clearcoat so their colors wouldn’t wash away outside. We put the gnomes in our butterfly garden and have received many compliments bout how great they came out!

Sun Craft

We also painted Color-Me Sunshine faces. I loved how these came out, some were simple yellow and orange, some were rainbow, some residents focused more of the face highlighting the details on the sun. When they were finished painting with acrylic paint, I put a clear coat on them and attached them to our raised veggie beds to give them a little more color. This was a great project that all our residents could join in on, and we used a variety of brush sizes depending on each person’s ability.

Bird Canvas Craft

In our bird watching group we learn about a variety of birds found in NH, so having the color me canvas of the Eastern Bluebird was perfect for this group! While listening to bird calls and watching our own back yard birds the residents painted their canvas. We displayed them for several weeks, and the residents were proud to share their artwork before taking them and hanging them up in their rooms. This kit comes with the paint, brushes, and pre-printed canvas boards!

About the Author – Jayme Thibeault

Bringing joy to the residents is one of the best parts of my job and love watching them interact with the kids. I have worked at Kirkwood Corners for 9 years, and a hospice company for a year and half, and I am very passionate about senior care and end of life care. None of us know how long we have so we must make each day the very best day possible. My favorite activity programs that we have are our grand-buddies, Seniors and Science group, and Horse Therapy, at the Carriage Barn. I am lucky to have a husband, Dan, that supports me in everything I do, and occasionally volunteers to help with trips and activities. When I am not at work, I enjoy spending time with my husband and family, taking our dog, Cody, out on adventures and horseback riding.