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We have a large screen television in a room where there is generally no activities on two days a week in the afternoon. I let everyone know that I can put on a movie, or they can make use of many games we have in the room. You could put a puzzle in one of the roll up holders for anyone to work on when they are in an open activity room. I would tie it with a bow so that other wandering hands do not disassemble it. Because our facility has personal care as well as skilled residents, I, too, find it difficult to try and keep everyone busy. One of the ideas I keep trying to float is having some of our personal care residents read to some of the skilled residents, sit and have a conversation with someone, play a game with them, pray with them if appropriate, and listen to music or watch a a movie they both like. I've still got resistance to it but I'm making a little headway in that project. Good luck.

Hi Vicki, Yes, I've had this, too! We ended up creating an entire corner of the activity room that we left out both independently pursued and group activities. We left out things like puzzles, unfolded laundry, board games, art supplies, music, and DVDs. We also hand out trivia books to each of the nurses to have on hand in case there is a resident looking for something to do on "off" hours.