9 Ways to Encourage Participation in Art Activities

I have found all your art and craft ideas inspiring, and have got a collection of activities prepared for when our service users return to our day centre after this lockdown has ended.

It has also provided me with an activity base, to facilitate sending activities home to service users to enable them to keep their minds and hands active and improve their well being.

I began working in a nursing home as Activity Aide in June. I found that the best way to encourage residents to participate in our craft group is to offer choices of projects, but also to be crafting with a purpose. I began a relaxation program for one of my evening programs. We begin by doing our Serenity Gardens. Each participant gets a foil tray (I purchased lasagne size) and gets some play sand in it. They can create their garden from anything that is on the table. I have relaxing instrumental music playing in the background and once the gardens are finished we do relaxation exercises. We started out with small figurines from a thrift store and some small flowers and greenery from a Dollar Store. The crafting part came in when they began creating items to decorate their gardens... ones that could be shared with the group so each can create a different garden each time. We made inukshuks from stones, fences, benches, bird houses, butterflies and welcome signs from wood and decorated small dishes with blue fabric and either shells or small stones for water features. The residents have fallen in love with their gardens and have fun remembering who created what pieces.

Carol and Jill, I love your ideas! Thank you for taking time to share what is working in your communities. Golden Carers gives us a great opportunity to take a sneak peek into other senior care facilities, and I love learning from readers like you.

Thanks for the great ideas you have shared. I am still trying to engage my local aged care providers in art activities. As an art therapist I know how valuable art and creativity can be for residents. I love the idea of an art show ... I will try this idea and see how they respond. cheers Lorri :)

I love art. I volunteer in a day facility and for the last year I have been using different types of art to encourage participants. I always stress there is no wrong way to do art. About 6 months ago we had an informal art show. A couple were 'from scratch' but most were from coloring book or individual prints. Some were prints from your website. All work was matted and displayed. We have 2 different area and so we displayed half in each area for a week and then switched. Everyone was delighted.

Last week we had a Car Show. I have 2 coloring books of vintage cars and trucks and participants chose from these pictures and put their names on the back. I then mounted them on trifold display boards and put a letter on each picture and we had Viewers Choice awards. I use Hot Wheel cars mounted on napkin rings for trophies. Very well received.

We made contact with a local wool and textile shop. They have ex-demonstration pictures that they donated for a small amount. I purchased glass beads to embellish the black work of flowers.

I noticed how fascinated the residents were with the textile pictures and how confidently they worked within a set pattern.

I plan to produce some simple tapestry designs that they will be able to work with, adding detail.

A new article has been submitted: Bringing Art to Life in Your Community