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Celebrate National Assisted Living Week September 8th -14th and this year\u2019s theme \u201cInspiring Generations\u201d at your facility by planning a week full of activities that are inspired by your residents\u2019 interests and past experiences. Have fun picking entertaining themes for each day of the week that allow you to provide fun games, crafts, and activities.<\/p>\n
Recognize National Grandparents Day on Sunday, September 8th by planning activities that involve the family, including the grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Game \u2013 Family Feud<\/strong><\/p>\n Invite the family members to your facility to play fun games with residents. Divide the families into teams and have the teams compete against one another while playing classic games, like Family Feud<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Craft \u2013 Coloring Greeting Cards<\/strong><\/p>\n Assist residents with coloring greeting cards<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that they can send to their grandchildren. Encourage residents to use the kit\u2019s markers to fill in the pre-printed images on the cards.<\/p>\n Activity \u2013 Writing Letters to the Grandkids<\/strong><\/p>\n Use the greeting cards that were colored during the craft and encourage residents to write special notes in them to send to their grandchildren.<\/p>\n Pay tribute to your residents\u2019 former occupations by scheduling activities that recognize their interesting past jobs.<\/p>\n Game \u2013 Career Pictionary<\/strong><\/p>\n Grab a box of markers<\/a><\/strong> and divide residents into teams to play a game of Career Pictionary. Beforehand, write down a variety of occupations on small sheets of paper, including the former occupations of your residents. Then have teams take turns drawing the occupation to see if their team can correctly guess it in 30 seconds.<\/p>\n Craft \u2013 Career Shadow Boxes<\/strong><\/p>\n Provide residents with shadow boxes<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to fill with photos or mementos from their working days. Once the boxes are complete, go around the room and encourage residents to share a few stories from their past jobs as they show-off their shadow boxes.<\/p>\n Activity \u2013 Baking Cookies for Police and Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n Honor the workers at your local police and fire stations by inviting residents to bake a few batches of cookies<\/a><\/strong> to deliver to them as appreciation for their hard work.<\/p>\n Schedule a day where your residents are entertained throughout the day. Recruit entertainers, staff members, and your Dining Staff for fun activities.<\/p>\n Game \u2013 Blindfold Tasting<\/strong><\/p>\n Recruit your facility\u2019s Dining Staff to provide a variety of cakes for a cake tasting, in which blindfolded residents sample to see if they can identify the flavor.<\/p>\n Craft \u2013 Sensory Tubes<\/strong><\/p>\n Help residents create their own \u201centertainment in a bottle\u201d as you show them how to assemble sensory tubes<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0featuring the kit\u2019s shells, sequins, beads, and glitter.<\/p>\n Activity \u2013 Backyard Concert<\/strong><\/p>\n Host a fun backyard concert featuring your residents\u2019 favorite mobile entertainer. Pass out tasty snacks<\/a><\/strong> and fruity drinks for residents to enjoy while listening to the entertainment.<\/p>\n Remember 9-11 by hosting activities that recognize America while allowing residents to showcase their patriotism.<\/p>\n Game \u2013 Cornhole Toss<\/strong><\/p>\n Set up a patriotic cornhole tossing game<\/a><\/strong> in the backyard for residents to play. Divide residents into teams \u2013 first floor vs. second floor; men vs. women \u2013 to see which team can score the most points.<\/p>\n Craft \u2013 Patriotic Kites<\/strong><\/p>\n Pass out patriotic kites<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for residents to design with the kit\u2019s markers. Encourage residents to design a kite that is worthy of being flown on Patriot Day<\/p>\n Activity \u2013 Flying Kites<\/strong><\/p>\n Invite volunteers to help residents fly the kites that were made. For the activity, seat residents in chairs in the backyard, and have the volunteers get the kites up in the air so that residents can fly them from their seats.<\/p>\n Celebrate nature with your residents with fun activities that allow residents to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.<\/p>\n Game \u2013 Find It in Nature<\/strong><\/p>\n Invite residents to play the game Find It in Nature, in which you pass out paint swatches and have residents go outdoors to try to find elements that match the paint colors in their paint swatch. Use a variety of greens, blues, and browns so that residents can easily find color matches during the activity.<\/p>\n Craft \u2013 Painting Flower Pots<\/strong><\/p>\n Provide residents with acrylic paint<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to decorate flower pots<\/a><\/strong> that they can fill with flowers or plants for their rooms.<\/p>\n Activity \u2013 Butterfly Garden<\/strong><\/p>\n Encourage residents to help you set up an indoor butterfly garden<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that your residents can tend to in your facility when they are unable to enjoy nature outdoors.<\/p>\n Tap into your residents\u2019 love of music by inviting them to participate in activities throughout the day that involve soothing melodies.<\/p>\n Game \u2013 Name That Old T.V. Jingle<\/strong><\/p>\n See how well your residents remember the classic television jingles of the past with a fun game in which they try to identify the jingle<\/a><\/strong>. Divide residents into teams to encourage a friendly competition.<\/p>\n Craft \u2013 Wooden Maracas<\/strong><\/p>\n Pass out permanent markers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for residents to decorate wooden maracas<\/a><\/strong>. Once the maracas are complete, save them for use for your future musical activities.<\/p>\n Activity \u2013 Musical Bingo<\/strong><\/p>\n Merge your residents\u2019 favorite activities \u2013 music and bingo \u2013 together in a fun game of music bingo<\/a><\/strong>. For the activity, simply play the CD that is included in the kit so that residents can identify the song title and find it on their bingo card.<\/p>\n Schedule activities throughout the day that give residents the opportunity to help others in your community.<\/p>\n Game \u2013 Find the Volunteer<\/strong><\/p>\n Invite your facility\u2019s volunteers to participate in a fun game with residents, in which they submit a baby photo to be placed on the wall with those of other volunteers and staff members. Then give residents time to see if they can correctly identify the volunteers and staff members by their baby photo.<\/p>\n Craft \u2013 Assembling Teddy Bears<\/strong><\/p>\n Assist residents with stuffing teddy bears<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to donate to a local children\u2019s hospital.<\/p>\n Activity \u2013 Making Kits for Homeless<\/strong><\/p>\n Ask family members for donations of new socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and bottled water for you and your residents to create kits to donate to a local homeless shelter. Simply fill plastic containers<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Find more ideas from Notjustbingo\u00a0on the S&S blog here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n About Not Just Bingo:<\/strong><\/p>\n Not Just Bingo<\/a>\u00a0is an online resource of fun, senior activity ideas for activity professionals of assisted living facilities. They have been providing fun activity ideas online since 2009, and continue to assist activity professionals across the country by creating meaningful and engaging activity ideas for their residents that go \u201cbeyond bingo.\u201d Not Just Bingo feels privileged to help activity directors better the living experiences of their residents while demonstrating that a senior\u2019s quality of life can actually improve when they move to a senior facility!<\/p>\n Want even more ideas each month? Visit\u00a0www.notjustbingo.com<\/a>\u00a0for how-to activity ideas, monthly newsletters, and daily holiday ideas. You can also sign up for the\u00a0Notjustbingo Membership<\/a>\u00a0to receive specialized activity ideas to keep your residents and staff engaged, active, and having fun!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monday \u2013 Career Day<\/h2>\n
Tuesday \u2013 Entertainment Day<\/h2>\n
Wednesday \u2013 Patriot Day<\/h2>\n
Thursday \u2013 Nature Day<\/h2>\n
Friday \u2013 Music Day<\/h2>\n
Saturday \u2013 Volunteer Day<\/h2>\n
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