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One of the most common requests I’m getting these days is for ideas to boost staff morale during the COVID pandemic. We know this will be especially crucial during the holidays when the coronavirus turns our traditions upside down.
Today I’m sharing sixteen ideas for activities you can do with your nursing home staff to brighten their days leading up to Christmas. Coronavirus rules vary across the country, so I realize some of these suggestions won’t be practical for everyone. But I know you’ll find several fun ideas that you can adapt to your individual nursing homes.
1. Dress up your managers as Santa and his elves and post them at employee entrances. As employees arrive for their shift, the managers can hand out candy bars you’ve wrapped in encouraging holiday notes. You can find lots of fun ideas for printable wrappers on Pinterest.
2. This year, many of us will miss the lovely sounds of carolers strolling up and down the hallways at Christmastime. Perhaps carolers can perform from outside windows, but that’s not quite the same. That’s why I hope you get a group of employees together to carol in the hallways. It’s fun for your staff, and the residents will enjoy it so much!
3. Invite staff to take part in dress-up days. Ideas include:
- Santa hats and elf hats
- Classic Christmas movie characters
- Red & green outfits
- Holiday pajamas
- Grinches (perfect for 2020!)
4. Host an ugly holiday sweater contest. This one has been around for a long time, but residents always get a kick out of it.
You can also do a holiday socks contest if you’re tired of sweaters. Everyone rolls up their pant legs for the day and shows off their creations.
With either contest, you can ask staff to parade through the hallways and invite residents to choose a winner in several categories. These could include:
- most festive
- funniest
- best homemade creation
- ugliest
5. Hide an Elf on the Shelf in a humorous predicament for staff to find each day. Offer a small prize for whoever finds it. It’s even more fun if you ask residents to help come up with hiding places.
6. Invite staff to decorate their own Christmas cookies. Provide plain sugar cookies, frosting, and lots of colorful toppings.
7. Offer a hot cocoa bar for staff. Include a variety of hot chocolates, flavored syrups, and toppings.
8. Invite staff to decorate their cars on a holiday theme and host a car parade around the building for your residents to enjoy. Include your local police department in your plans, too. They might offer to lead the parade and help with any traffic concerns.
9. Set up a Christmas tree and invite staff to bring items to decorate it for charity according to a theme. Possibilities include:
- Kitchen utensils for people transitioning out of a women’s shelter
- New or gently used toys for a local children’s charity
- Socks for homeless people
- Ornaments for Meals on Wheels recipients
10. Invite staff to decorate residents’ doors (with their permission). Recruit a few residents to serve as judges, then offer a prize to the person who decorated the best door and the resident who lives in the room. Be sure to check your local fire regulations first; for example, we’re allowed to use only non-flammable paper on doors.
11. Make a Christmas tree out of construction paper and post it on the employee break room wall. Provide paper ornaments so staff can write what they’re thankful for, then tape their ornament onto the tree.
12. Encourage staff to form small teams for a gingerbread house decorating contest. You can provide supplies or let each team develop its own construction materials.
13. Set up a Secret Santa exchange for staff. Everyone interested puts their name on a slip of paper in a basket, and then each person picks someone else’s name. The Secret Santa anonymously gives a small gift to their person every week for a specified time frame.
Each Santa reveals their identity with a final gift at the end. I encourage you to set a price limit for the event, so everyone receives gifts of approximately the same value.
14. You can also do a Staff Santa program for your residents. Post a list of all resident names, then ask staff to choose a resident. On a specified day, staff will give their person a wrapped gift. Again, I encourage you to set a price limit, so everyone can afford to take part.
15. Invite staff’s children to decorate paper Christmas stockings, then hang them in a common area for everyone to enjoy. You can also include grandchildren, nieces/nephews, godchildren, etc., so everyone can participate.
16. Play holiday bingo. Print off one card for every employee who wishes to take part. You can find lots of free printable cards on Pinterest.
Post a bingo square each day and offer a fun prize to the first person who gets a blackout. You may wish to rotate the time of day you post numbers, so it’s fair to all shifts.
Now it’s your turn! What ideas can you offer to help boost staff morale over the holidays?
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