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I hope you plan to make a big deal about Leap Day at your nursing home next month. After all, we only get to celebrate it once every four years! I know your residents will enjoy these fun Leap Day activities.
Create a Leap Year time capsule
Help your residents create a time capsule to open on Leap Day in 2024. These are a few items you may wish to include. I’m sure your residents can come up with lots of other great suggestions, too.
- Local or national newspaper from 2/29/2020
- This week’s ad from a grocery store
- A group letter written by the residents
- This month’s activity calendar from the nursing home
- Group photo of the staff
- Menu from a local cafe with prices listed
- Current financial information (stock market, mortgage rates, bank interest rates, gas prices, etc.)
Since your time capsule only needs to last for four years, there are lots of options for a container. These include a shoebox, a plastic tub, or even a large coffee can. Just be sure someone is in charge of remembering to open it in 2024!
Learn all about Leap Day
I know your residents will enjoy learning about the rich history of Leap Day. You’ll also want to share Leap Year trivia. I recommend using The Leap Year Book by Barbara Sutton-Smith. You can find it on Amazon or possibly at your public library.
Enjoy a frog-themed day
Since frogs leap, they’re the perfect mascot for Leap Day. My go-to resource is Pinterest, where you’ll find many frog-themed ideas for decorations, snacks, craft projects, and games.
It’s always fun to get staff involved in celebrations, so I hope you invite them to dress up as frogs. Ask residents to vote for the best costumes and offer small prizes. (You’ll want the prizes to be donated, of course!)
Reminisce about Leap Year
Get a group of residents together and encourage them to share memories of Leap Years from the past. Here are a few questions to get the conversation started.
- Were any of your residents or staff born on Leap Day? What’s it like having a birthday only once every four years?
- Do any of your residents have a child born on Leap Day? How did they decide when to celebrate their birthday?
- Did any of your residents get married on Leap Day?
- Traditionally, Leap Day is a day for a woman to propose marriage to a man. Did any of your residents ever do this?
Use your day well
We’re all granted an extra day in the Leap Year, so it’s essential to use it wisely. This presents a perfect opportunity for your residents to do something special for other people. Check out this post for 70 excellent ideas.
How do you plan to celebrate Leap Day this year? Please share in the comment section!
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