Diane

I have been taking a bottle of hand sanitizer with me to all activities and everyone participating uses it before and after the activity and if anyone coughs or sneezes etc. during the activity they get an extra squirt.

We don't have anything on their doors except their picture (some don't want it on their door so it isn't) and their first initial and last name. However, I do what I call Birthday Bio's which I post on a bulletin board in the dining room during the month of their birthday. On those I put their picture, the day of the month they were born, where they were born, where they grew up, what their parents did for a living, how many brothers and sisters they had, where they went to school, what kinds of jobs did they have, hobbies and sports they enjoyed, places they've traveled to, how many children they had, how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren they have, ending with when they moved into the lodge.
I hope this helps Deb, and good luck!

I'm so happy that you included the rhymes along with the quiz.. we always get stuck on the wording when saying the verses out loud. Thank-you!

I have been thinking about starting arm chair travel sessions but didn't know where to start! I have a big set of travel DVD's to use, and now I have lots of ideas on things to do along with the DVD's! Thank you so much!

Hi Dee, I've just started doing "Carnivals" in the spring and fall. I found several games in an educational catalogue which gave me the idea. I've done two now and they were big hits. I have 6 game stations set up with small prizes at each station. We have a popcorn machine so make that to give to everyone. Cotton Candy is a prize at one of the games. I also serve lemonade. I also play carnival/circus music that I found on YouTube. My main focus is having fun playing the various games like ring toss, mini golf, throwing a roll of toilet paper into a toilet ( a pail with a toilet seat attached), throwing coins into glasses and cups and winning the one you get the coin (poker chip) into, etc. Lots of laughs and reminiscing about having fun when they were younger.
Good luck with yours!

These funny short stories are perfect for my monthly newsletter! Thank you so much for posting more! I just love being a member here, you have more material than I can ever imagine using. It's wonderful to have this resource.

I found some at this website. I hope they are what you are looking for.
http://njpasq.wixsite.com/senior-craftsite/games-pokeno

I am curious Chronos, what is your secret men's lunch all about?

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying your summer. I need some help. I am an activity coordinator in a 50 bed seniors lodge. I have had quite a bit of success in the past two years finding a good line up of activities that attract a fair amount of residents. I am having problems getting people out for brain games though. Does anyone have suggestions on what I can call it instead? I feel they need more trivia and other thinking type games. What I do is 45 minutes to an hour doing a variety of things like Hidden Objects, Finish the sayings, Fun Riddles, Words that start with a certain letter etc. I have just gone over to the coloring table and done some of these unscheduled just to get some thinking it, but I feel that coloring itself is very therapeutic and don't really like interrupting that. Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks!

Hi Morgan, my residents enjoy playing Canasta and asked me to add it to my calendar once a month to start to see how it goes. They play on their own in the evening. They had me type up the rules so they had one set of rules to follow for everyone to reduce arguments. Like Euchre, there are many different variations. They just had their second "Canasta Night" on Friday and there were 12 players. The first one a month ago, they had 18 players. Only 4 can play at a table so two were left out, but they didn't seem to mind. They have invited friends and family to join if they know they won't have enough and that works out very well. I encourage my residents to get out of their rooms as much as they can and they have access to a cupboard full of games of all sorts. Good luck!