Free Activity Calendar for Seniors

Hi Leigh-Ann, we did the same; font 10 for the calendar but then we printed it in A3 form and placed one copy in each seniors' bedroom. This way it made it easier for them to read and inform their relatives and friends when visiting.

Hi Leigh-ann!

I'm curious, could you attach an example one of your calendars? And do you have any examples of previous calendars? Did they all fit in your previous template? I'd love to see an example.

Here are some ideas you can try with these templates?

1. Paper Size: One option is to select the largest paper size you're able to print. In a lot of cases, this is A3 / Tabloid. The more space on the page, the less cluttered the calendar report will be!

2. DOC Multi-Page: In a lot of cases, the Word Document version of the calendar is better for complex calendars as it gives you options to easily edit the content later.

3. Multi-Page PDF: If you're using the PDF option, make sure you click the "Multi-Page PDF" option. This will stop the system from trying to squeeze everything on to one page, and instead let it print onto multiple pages!

4. Font Size: Changing font size is an option for the Word Doc version, however, to get it working with PDFs you have to check the Multi-Page PDF described above!

5. Hide Weekends: If you don't schedule activities on weekends, you can actually hide them and just print a 5-day calendar!

6. Change Orientation: Sometimes printing in portrait mode (instead of landscape) can provide a cleaner calendar, especially when combined with Hide Weekends and Large Paper Size!

Let me know how you go :)

Thanks for the reply. We print it on Tabloid, so it it big paper but it is still in 10 font which makes it hard for the residents to see... is there any way of making it bigger font but still on 1 page?

Did you receive my attachments ?

Thank you for sending through screenshots Leigh-ann, we will reply to you privately and post again on this thread to notify everyone when the next update is rolled our for the calendar.

Hi Taylor,

We really do need to add this feature! It's been on our todo list for a while, I'll see what we can do :)

Technically this is possible to DIY with the Word Document version, however, it's a bit fiddly playing with backgrounds. I'll try to build it into this calendar system directly to make it easy!

Hi Nichole!

That sounds strange, can you tell me what month, paper size, and font size you've selected?

Also, do you have Microsoft Word installed, or are you using another program?

The two types of calendars available are for DOCX (Word) and PDF, have you tried them both? Any change? We provide two versions so that if you don't have one of the programs you can always use the other.

If you're still having issues please send a copy of your file to [email protected] so we can take a look!

Let me know how you go.

Hi Alison,

You can setup events to repeat as frequently as you need them to - daily, weekly, monthly etc. This saves you from having to re-enter them each time.

Hope this helps!
Talita

Hi Linda,

Could you please try again and make sure 2020 is selected?

If you're still having issues, please email our support with a screenshot of the issue so we can see if we can re-create it:
https://www.goldencarers.com/contact/

Thanks!

Hi Rebekah!

There is a paper size opiton for "Tabloid", which is 11 x 17 inches, which should be the same as Ledger. Let me know how you go :)

Hello!

What format are you not finding? To the best of my knowledge, we've always had Word Document and PDF versions, which are both still available.

The only difference in the last few years is we now have far more options, you can generate calendars with different page sizes, colourful backgrounds, and much more!

We also have calendar software which is free for Golden Carers members:
https://toolkit.goldencarers.com/

I hope that helps :)

Hi Rick,

That's an interesting use of the calendars!

I'm not sure I understand the issue though. Slideshow mode on a 16:9 screen should just add black bars left and right. I believe powerpoint has a 16:9 screen mode, so you could drag the JPG into that and re-export if you want an all-white display.

The issue with providing a 16:9 equivalent for each paper size is how vertically short that size is, it would almost always spill onto 2 pages or scale the font to be very small.

If you send a photo of the issue to [email protected] I can take a look!

Hey Jonathan!

Sorry about this, our fault. An update over the weekend broke the "Tabloid" paper size, but it's now working again :)

Hi Raafa!

The easiest way is always to print on larger paper, more room gives you the ability to increase the font size and include more activities. Smaller paper means less room and smaller font sizes.

Our templates already use the minimum recommended page margins, they're quite narrow. The plain templates also give you slightly more room because the table dividers are very small.

Toolkit, our professional activity management platform, is worth looking at for a better approach to managing calendars:
https://toolkit.goldencarers.com/

Hope that helps!

Hi Raafa,

We have the same problem, so our solution is old-school. We cut & paste, literally!
We print it on 2 pages, then cut the extra week off Pg 2 & glue it to the bottom of Pg1, then scan & print from there!
We don't want to go smaller than Font size 10, but some days we need more than 4 lines for activities, so this is what we came up with.

Linda :)

Hi Linda,

I would love to see a photo if you could take one! You can upload here, or send to [email protected] if that's easier. :)

Novel ways of using the calendars is great to see and can help us make improvements.

Hi Raquel!

The best place to start is the video on using these calendars :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jfLkztqZ-s

Once you've tested them out, let me know if you have any specific questions, happy to help.

Welcome to Golden Carers Raquel! Go to 'What's New' and then 'Calendar'; click on the month that you are interested in and choose the activity that suits you best.

Hi Adele,

We've just added the new backgrounds which were updated on Toolkit, so you can start using them with these downloadable templates too :)

Thanks for your feedback Gillian!

Thank you so much for your feedback Shirley, it means a lot to us!

Hi Sharon!

We will be updating this soon so the days are a little transparent, then you can see more of the background image :)

Hi Susan!

We don't have a Weekly Calendar download yet for Golden Carers, but we do have a professional activity and client management system which has Daily, Weekly, and Monthly calendar downloads called Golden Care Tools:
https://www.goldencaretools.com/

Hope that helps :)

Hi Susan!

There isn't weekly option yet for the Golden Carers printable calendars, but we do provide weekly calendars if you use Toolkit:

https://toolkit.goldencarers.com/

Toolkit is a professional online system for managing clients, attendance, and activities. If you have an active Golden Carers membership there is a free plan available if all you need to manage are activites:

https://toolkit.goldencarers.com/plans/

Hope that helps!

Hi. I'd love to use this but wonder if there Is any way this can be linked to an existing electronic calendar, e.g. microsoft outlook? I use an calendar on Outlook specifically for my Care Home activities but this would be a real improvement.

Hi Theresa!

The calendar automatically breaks onto a new page if there is too much content to display it all on one. Some solutions:

1. If you delete some of the events from March 1st and 21st (which have 5 activities each!) it will then automatically collapse onto 1 page

2. If you can print on an A3 printer then you'll have much more room available and it will print on 1 page

3. You can drop the font size down to 8pt, which will then give you enough space for 1 page

4. You can remove the automatic Golden Carers events, and the blank calendar ready for your own activities will fit onto 1 page

I hope that helps! :)

Hi Sandra!

If you print blank calendars they will always fit onto 1 page. As you start adding events, activities, and daily schedules, they will start to expand and will eventually break onto a new page.

You can prevent extra pages by either reducing font sizes, or increasing page size like A3.

Hope that helps!

Hi Connie! Interesting suggestion, would you mind attaching a photo of your creation? I don't see why we couldn't add a feature to be able to type a custom heading in the future :)

Hi Janet!

Have you tried some of the larger font sizes, particularly 16pt / 18pt / 20pt? The "Microsoft Word" version will give you more flexibility, as you can always change the font size after generating it.

PDFs aren't editable files so they can't be changed afterwards.

We've also recently added a "Tabloid" printing option, this is an 11" by 17" page, so if you can print at that size it gives you far more room to increase the font size and it will be easier for your residents to see the activities.

Lastly, if you don't have weekend activities, you could use the 5-Day option in Portrait mode.

If you have any other suggestions please let us know, we're always looking to improve!

Hi Tonya!

We do have a custom background image feature in the works :)

Clipart can always be added using the Microsoft Word version, as this is a feature built directly into the program.

We've added a simple "Icon" feature which will automatically add nice clean icons to each Golden Carers event, however, if you want full control I'd suggest using Word to add your own.

Hope that helps!

We have the same problem, needing 6 lines some days.
You can't get more than 4 lines unless you go lower in font size than 10, which is too small for our residents.
So what we do is print it on 2 pages, then cut the 2nd page out & stick it on the bottom of the first page. Kind of old school, but it works!

Great to hear your solution Linda! Another idea is to print on a larger paper size, like A3 or Tabloid, and then switch to Portrait mode. That will give you far more room vertically and it may just onto 1 page depending on the number of activities. :)

Thanks so much Gillian! I'm so glad it is helpful for you!

Hey Donna! Are you still having trouble? We've moved the full 12-month download to the top of the "Months" section, the option was a little hidden. You can download the full 2019 calendar anytime you like :)

Thank you SO Much for your feedback Alison! We appreciate it so much! x

Hi Susan!

The Calendars on Golden Carers (above) are designed in a way that people can download the templates and use them however they like. It's fully up to them to add, remove, update, and plan their calendars on a monthly basis.

The Golden Care Tools (https://www.goldencaretools.com) system is a far more sophisticated online program that is designed as a professional service. Generally, a facility or workplace will pay for Golden Care Tools directly, as it lets you add and manage clients, schedule activities, and then allows detailed reports to be created for and use for accreditation and government audits.

You can see a quick overview of the features here:
https://www.goldencaretools.com/features/

The Quickstart video is a great place to see exactly how the system works:
https://www.goldencaretools.com/quickstart/

I hope that helps answer you question!

Hey Kayleigh!

We'll take a look and see how easy this is to setup.

Do you use Portrait calendars often? Is there any particular reason you choose them over the more known Landscape version?

Hi Maurice,
It's easier for me to use portrait when I'm working on my newsletter. In publisher, you aren't able to use portrait on one page and landscape on another, they all have to be the same format.
Also, it's uploaded to a resident website, and they prefer for it to be in portrait view as well. Thanks for the response!

Hi Kayleigh!

Good news, we've just released two new Calendar features:

1. 7-Day Week and 5-Day Week Calendars
2. Landscape and Portrait Mode

I can recommend the 5-Day week layout in Portrait mode with a larger page size and a background image, it works really well :)

Let me know how you go!

Hi Linda!

There are a couple things you can do if reducing the font size isn't giving you enough room:

1. Let it spill over two pages: When entering information if you run out of space the word document will automatically spill onto a new page,

2. Print a larger page size; If you have an A3 Printer, or print can print on two A4 pieces of paper and stick them together, you'll have a lot more room to enter information.

I hope that helps!

Thanks so much for your feedback Shearee! Let me get back to you on this one!

Hi Shearee!

Ahh that's lovely to hear, thanks for the feedback!

We removed the yearly printing option as it didn't seem very useful when using backgrounds as they all end up being the same. However I can see how it would be useful for plain calendars.

We'll take a look and see if we can add the option :)

Yearly calendars have been added, you can now download entire years in one click! :)

Hey Kelly!

We're launching new calendars very soon, I think they might do exactly what you're after :)

Hey Teri!

The Word Documents should already be Legal paper size, which is 8.5 by 11 inches. So you're good to go :)

If anyone else reading ever needs to change to A4, A3, or another size, all you do is click the Layout tab, then the Size button, and finally select whichever paper size you need.

Hope it helps.

Hi Kathie!

We've recently completely upgraded our Activity Calendar system. You can now do everything you asked for (and much more) with a few simple clicks :)

Hi Heidi, you can add clipart if you download the Word Document version!

Hi Fiona, we have had a number of requests for this. We will be releasing the 2018 calendar in September and will make sure this is scheduled in earlier for 2019! I'll let you know as soon as it's out.

Thanks for your feedback Pam! The calendar is now available starting from Sunday or Monday, just select which tab is relevant to you. Cheers!

Thanks so much for your feedback Mary! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!

Hi Vanessa, early dementia symptoms vary from person to person, which is why it is important to offer meaningful activities based on individual tastes as much as possible. If that is not practical you may try activities that stir the memory, improve motor skills, promote creativity, and make them feel included and needed. Most activities in Golden Carers are suitable for early dementia. You will be the judge as to whether activities need to be modified for safety and practicality. Activities such as puzzles, singing, painting, colouring, carpet bowling, cooking, collage, gardening and many others are a good starting point. Best wishes.

Here is a category dedicated to dementia on the website:
https://www.goldencarers.com/dementia/

Here is a good article to get started with:
https://www.goldencarers.com/sensory-stimulation-for-dementia-care/4184/

All the best Vanessa.