Start A Book Club. You could have it weekly or daily. You could have several interest groups also. Such as Monday:Western's Tuesday:Romance Wednesday:True Stories Thursday:Biography's Friday:Comedy's Your Group could last 30 minutes to an hour. Go to the library Or start your own library(Click Here) Ask For Donations of Books You can also copy story's at the site above. Read to residents as a group or 1 on 1. Compile a list of residents who would be willing to read.
Group together several residents of like interest. Have them pick a theme and write a book together.
1st-Electric Light Bulb Patented By Thomas Edison in 1879
Rebecca Boone Probably Made Lot's Of Crafts Below Find Some Easy Crafts The Ladies Can make The Lotion & Bath Soaps Would Make Great Christmas Bazaar Items Find Bottles At Your Local Dollar Store
Ok I have to tell you all a story. My "Deviled Eggs" have always been a favorite
in our family. One day as I made them my son who was 4 at the time
asked why they were called "Devil" eggs. I explained to him deviling was
what the procees was called in making them. He said,"Well they look like angels to me
the yellow is their hair and the white is their halo. So I will call them Angel Eggs."
LOL. I couldn't have agreed with him more so for the last 25 yrs. we have had "Angel Eggs".
Egg Craft
Use the egg pattern above.
Glue on pieces of ribbon, zig-zag ribbon, lace, draw with crayons or markers,
use water colors, paints, or whatever else you can come up with.
Eggshell Collage
Collect egg shells.
Spray them with a mixture of bleach and water to kill any germs, then let dry.
Crush the egg shells and add different colors of food coloring.
When the shells are the color you desire, take them out of the food coloring and let dry.
Have residents glue the dried egg shells onto a picture that he/she has made.
3rd-Sandwich Day
Birthday of John Montagu, the creator of the sandwich
It is said that John Montagu Invented the sandwhich because the sandwhich
allowed him to be able to keep gambling while eating
So why not have a just for fun Casino night ?
Invitations
Find an old deck of cards.
Using cardstock, glue a couple cards on the front of the invitation
Recruit volunteers...
Ask them to dress in white button-down shirts with a black bow tie and black trousers
to portray a coat check person, one to man each game, a bartender, a waiter/waitress,
a D.J.(to man your music CD'S Or hire one), an impersonator, someone to help in the kitchen,
and you of course will be the casino manager.
You can also rent slot machines, roulette table, etc
(check your local yellow pages for rentals)
Games
poker tables, slot machines, roulette wheel, bingo, etc
Set up a non alcoholic bar,
complete with beverage napkins See Recipes Below
Serve Finger sandwiches,have a vegetable buffet
Party Favors Gold bags filled with dice Playing cards chocolate cigars chocolate gold coins, faux diamond rings check out casino party supplies below for other party favors
Coat a pine cone with peanut butter, roll it in birdseed, and hang it from a tree branch
Peanut Butter Play dough
You'll need:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups dry powdered milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
To Make:
Beat all the ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
Chill in the refrigerator at least 3 hours.
Place wax paper down on a table and let the residents sculpt with the dough!
Residents can make shapes and work the dough like regular play dough.
Keep the peanut butter play dough in a plastic storage bag (like Ziploc)
and store it in the refrigerator. Discard after 2 weeks.
Hint: If you dampen the table before you put the wax paper down the wax paper won't slide as much.
Hint 2: Don't allow residents with peanut allergies to use this mixture.
WARNING: Do not use butter knives to fling peanut butter onto the ceiling as my children did when they were young
Here's one of our favorite's They had no name until my husband gave them one We call them Jallops ?? I have no idea why he chose that name My Mother made them when I was young Take Saltine crackers (I like the large saltines that are divided into 4 sections but they are hard to find) Spread Peanut Butter on them Put a large Marshmallow on top each cracker Bake in oven at 350 till marshmallows are melted Must Be Eaten right away.
Peanut Butter Pops You'll need some Ritz crackers peanut butter a small bag of chocolate chips 2 tablespoons of vegetable shortening Craft Sticks
Line a cookie sheet with foil or wax paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Use a craft stick to spread peanut butter on a cracker. Place the craft stick across
the top of the peanut butter, so it is nearly to the top of the cracker. Place the
second cracker on top, so the craft stick is sandwiched between the crackers. Repeat
until you have as many crackers as you would like.
Place chocolate chips and shortening in a bowl and melt in the microwave.
(about a minute and a half) Using a spoon, drizzle the melted chocolate over the peanut
butter crackers until the entire sandwich is well covered.
Have A Donut Fundraiser Our Local Mel-O-Creme sells Donuts to us at cost
Resident volunteers set up a table at our front door & sell to visitors, staff & other residents
After a certain amount of time we reduce the cost of the leftover donuts
The Resident Council Secretary keeps a book of all funds spent & earned (don't forget napkins & tongs)
This can be done once a week or once a month. With the earned proceeds the residents vote on items to
purchase for their Activity Programs. Also during the holidays they pick a name or two off the Local Christmas
Angel Tree and help make children's Wishes come true.
Magazine Game Material: Magazines
Lightweight Cardboard or Index Cards
Glue
Scissors
Pencil or Pen
Decide what kind of matching game you want to
make. You can make it to match adult and baby
animals, animals of the same species, animals
of the same color, etc.
Once you figure out your game, cut as many pictures
of different pets as you can out of the magazines.
Once your pictures are cut, you can glue them on the
lightweight cardboard or index cards. Label each
card so there is no confusion once your start playing
the game. For example, if you have a picture of a black,
adult dog, you can write that on the card.
Fun Jars Material Needed:
Any Empty Jar
White Craft Glue
Acrylic Paints
Pictures From Magazines or Wrapping Paper
Ribbon
Silk Flowers, Anything to Embellish
Soak off/remove all labels and clean jar. Using a brush,
apply white glue to front of picture and place against
inside of jar. Smooth out so there are no gaps.
Once dried, apply paint to inside of entire jar,
providing a background for the picture when viewing
from the outside. Use your imagination to add pretty
ribbon, shells, jewelry - whatever - to the rim of
the jar or the cap.
You can fill your jar with any "treasures", but no liquid.
They make great pen and pencil holders, barette storage,
office supplies, and can even be used to place a gift inside.
Thanksgiving Collage Materails Needed: Paper Plate
Magazines
Glue
Page through magazines; find and cut out pictures of your
favorite Thanksgiving foods. Glue them an your paper plate. Simple as that!
For a little variation, you can use markers, crayons, or
paint to decorate your paper plate to look like 'fine china'
before you glue on your pictures of food.
You Can Also Put have residents put pictures of things they find
in magazines that they are thankful for. Line your halls to
the dining room. With the thanksgiving plates your residents made.
Thanksgiving Place Mat
Construction Paper
Glue
Magazines
Clear Contact Paper
Cut a large cornucopia (cone-like) shape out of brown construction paper
(figure 1). Cut a large cirle out of a different shade of brown paper
or use yellow or orange (figure 2). You want to circle big enough to
glue over the end of the cone (where I have the arrows in figure 1).
Glue your cornucopia shape onto the left hand side of a large piece of
paper (either white or a contrasting color). This will be the base
for your placemat. Glue the circle shape onto the paper covering the
end of your cornucoppia as shown below.
Now page through magazines and find
pictures of food! A traditional cornucopia is filled with fruits
and vegetables that you harvest. Since this is your creation, you
can also fill it with whatever foods you like! Cut the pictures of
food out of magazines and glue them into the circle of your cornucopia.
You can also have them "spilling" out of the right side onto the paper.
Once you have all your food glued into your cornucopia and the glue is
dried, cover both sides of your new placemat with clear contact paper.
It will last for many meals to come!
Offer Your Facility To Be A Polling Place Set up a table & chairs away from the polling booths and let residents offer coffee to those coming to vote You could also serve cookies.
8th-X-ray Day The day the X-ray was discovered in 1895.
Mardi Gras Shoe Box Float
Shoe Box
Paint
Scissors
Glue
Miscellaneous Supplies
Flip your box upside down and paint.
You can use whatever colors you like, but the traditional
colors of Mardi Gras are pruple, green, and gold. If you
want to use the lid, get creative by gluing it into a different
position on the shoe box bottom. Let dry.
Gather miscellaneous supplies to decorate your float. A few ideas
for supplies to gether are crepe or tissue paper, beads, foil, a
small action figure or doll, ribbon, home-made gold coins (Doubloons),
glitter. Use your imagnation to create an original float! Line your residents floats up,
And have residents staff family & visitor vote for the best float
10th-U.S. Marine Corps Established
Established by Congress in 1775.
12th-First Balloon Crosses the Pacific In 1981 Ron Clark, Rocky Aoki, and Larry Newman ballooned from Nagashima, Japan to Covelo, California in the Double Eagle V.
In 1981
Balloon Pop Buy a couple of balloon pumps and attach a balloon to the nozzle.
Get residents 2 at a time to pump up the pumps, until the balloon bursts. The first to burst wins.
The Winner plays the next in line.
Balloon Tennis
Glue the end of a wooden paint stir stick,
or a cardboard wrapping paper tube, to a paper plate;
this is your racket. Blow up a balloon, tie a knot in
the end, and gently tap the balloon with your racket. Tennis anyone?
Invite a 1st,2nd or 3rd grade class to your facility. Pair up a child with a resident and a story book. Let the resident read to the child or help the child to read the story. Serve Cocoa & Cookies
18th-William Tell Day William Tell shoots an apple off his son's head in 1315
Visit The Site Above For The Mexican Hat Dance Song
Play "The Mexican Hat Dance Game"
Using A Large Sombrero hide a prize under neath it.
Such as candy,package of crackers,cookies,small knick knack etc.
Seat residents in a circle around a table with the hat facing down.
Or you could play it in a circle with the hat facing up(this way the prize is showing).
Have residents begin passing the hat around when you start playing the Mexican Hat Dance song.
When you stop the music whoever is holding the hat gets the prize.
Add a new prize and begin again. Have Fun !
Write the different ways to say hello & the countries
they are from on colored paper.Decorate,cover both sides
with clear contact paper. Use as placemats.
Zachary Taylor was raised on a cotton plantation in Kentucky. Make some of these cotton ball crafts below. You could also go to the library and find a layout of a Cotton Plantation And let residents make a scale model plantation. Discuss how life was back then and the changes that have taken place.
Yeah Right !! I would have 20 residents at my office door asking me where the blank was I ? The other residents would grab me in the dining room.
However-r-r-r, I used to give my children skip days as long as
their grades were ok & they hadn't missed much school work.
Soooooooooo, if you chose to stay home today and say a prayer for your assistants below are some ideas.
Turn Off The Phone Sleep till noon Grab a cup of coffee & go back to bed Push speed dial for your favorite restaraunt and have brunch delivered Curl up with that great book you been wanting to read. Stick that new Movie you been wanting to see in the DVD. Take A Long Bubble Bath Push speed dial again and have supper delivered. When hubby comes home have supper waiting. You can tell him how you slaved all day at home. Or better yet. Invite him to take a skip day too & don't forget the candles.
Venus
