i need ideas, activities for elderly in residential care. we have tried bingo dancing crafts gardening….?
i need ideas for games to do or something to entertain the residents. everything we try fails. when asked what they would like to do they say they don’t know. no one is in a wheelchair. we have tried bingo, cards, crafts, puzzles, gardening, dancing, nothing works please give me some ideas!
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How about activities that let them tell their story or remember their history? Genealogy is one activity – you could have the local Genealogy society come in and help them research their family history if you have computers.
Also you could have them record their stories with scrapbooking or photo books. All you need is some listening ears (because elderly people LOVE to tell their story) and the skills to help them make a simple scrapbook or photo book. Honestly, the small photo books are BEST because they can carry it with them easily and the idea of having their pictures and stories published in their own book will thrill them.
Talking is a good thing for elders and it gives them attention, which many need. Also what about talking about current events? for example, people like to feel like their opinions still matter, so bring up something in the news and let each person give their opinion on it. Or sharing stories of the best moments in their lives and why they love those memories so much. You know that even if they don’t seem enthused, they must enjoy your being there and giving them attention. But letting each one talk about themselves is the best medicine for them. How about singing songs together? Music is also very good for the Soul. And sing a longs can be fun. Sort of like Karaoke night is for younger people. Good luck with your very good intentions to make the elderly important again.
Well I work in a nursing home and I am a Activity Assitant. And yes I love my job.
Here is what we do. We make a calander every month And for every day we put like two to three activities, I am sure that what we do is kind of different, and where you are you might not have the finances. But anyways we have activities where we have people come in and sing, we do manicures and messages, Fruit bingo, prize bingo, (we do prize bingo every Wednesday, and Fruit bingo every Saturday.) On Sundays we do coffee and donuts in the afternoon and two Sundays of the month we have church services. We go on four outings a month (one once a week,) we have a shopping trip everymonth, then we go to like restaruants, or this past month we went to the Zoo, and next month we are going to a baseball game, once a year we also go to a hockey game. We also do a lot of activities involving food (that seems to attract most of our residents) we have popsicle parties, ice cream socials. We also do two activities room to room, a book/magazine cart, and a snack cart and we usually do those two times a month each. You could try a writing club, and ask them questions that they can write about, example: what was your favorite child hood memory, what is one thing your parents use to say to you, ect. but make sure you discuss it with them. I hope this has helped and if you would like some more ideas I have plenty, feel free to email me anytime,
Kdalise@yahoo.com. Best of luck to you hope this helped.