Activity Ideas

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In case you’re new to my blog, each month during 2019 I’m featuring acts of kindness your residents can do for other people. So often, nursing home residents are on the receiving end of care, but they don’t have a lot of opportunities to give back.

If you have additional ideas for random acts of kindness, please share them with my readers by posting them in the comment section. Thank you!

1. Provide supplies so residents can create pretty hair bows, then donate them to children at a local homeless shelter. You can find all sorts of fun patterns on Pinterest.

[Read more…] about Creative Acts Of Kindness For May

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links.

If you’ve been with my blog for a while, you know about the holiday activity posts I featured last year. Each month, I posted two articles containing lots of ideas to help your residents celebrate little-known national holidays.

For example, we celebrated Emma M. Nutt Day in September. We also enjoyed Moon Day in July.

As I planned my blog topics for 2019, I decided to stop writing these articles. Instead, I thought it might be more helpful to focus on general information about creating meaningful activities for your residents.

Recently, I was surprised and pleased to hear that some of my readers miss these holiday posts, and you want them to come back. Since I always enjoyed researching ideas for these special holidays, I’m excited to know that you find these articles useful!

As a result, I decided to bring back one little-known holiday each month. For the month of May, I know your residents will get a kick out of celebrating Lost Sock Memorial Day on May 9. I don’t know about you, but no matter where I live, I always end up with a little pile of mismatched socks.

[Read more…] about How To Celebrate Lost Sock Memorial Day

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links.

When I was a young girl, my grandpa spent some time in a local nursing home. Back then, nursing homes were a lot like hospitals.

As I try to picture the nursing home in my mind, I can see white walls and lots of gray metal fixtures. I also recall the subtle scent of Pine-Sol disinfectant.

There seemed to be nothing interesting to do when we visited Grandpa at the nursing home. Sadly, I quickly became bored and wanted to go home.

Fast forward to the Eden Alternative

Many years later, I worked as a nurse at a nursing home that embraces the Eden Alternative philosophy. This place was alive with the energy that comes from dogs, cats, fish, rabbits, as well as kids from the childcare center.

[Read more…] about 25 Kid-Friendly Nursing Home Activities

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links. Thank you for your support.

Recently I was stunned to read about a survey summarized on Alzheimers.net. According to the report, over 40% of people surveyed believe it’s pointless to stay in contact with someone living in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

This is so wrong and so sad. Yet, I can understand why someone might feel this way.

For one thing, it often makes us uncomfortable to see a friend or family member who no longer resembles the person we once knew. We feel crushed when they no longer remember who we are. Unusual behaviors or sounds might be troubling to us. And, finally, the thought of what might come next can be unsettling.

But, here’s the thing. This isn’t about us. It’s about a precious person who still lives within that sometimes tattered body who still needs to know that they are loved.

[Read more…] about 50 Ideas For Meaningful Visits

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links. 

How are your residents coming along with their Acts of Kindness for this year? If you missed any of the previous posts, you can find them here:

January

February

March

Now let’s look at possibilities for April: 

 1. Does your city have a community garden?  Invite your residents to create row markers for people in the program. You’ll find lots of fun ideas on this site.

[Read more…] about Creative Acts Of Kindness For April