A great message came through our site today – from a person wanting to be the activities director for an assisted living facility in Florida. I wanted to post this message (name taken out, of course) – as she had some great ideas, and a nice list of possible activities that she would coordinate if she were hired –
Here is what she said:
Hello! My name is Amy . I’m a 35 year old wife & mother of 3. I’m
VERY interested in being your activities director. I am a very happy, upbeat person and I have a million ideas for things to do with your residents! I am in a singer in a large wedding/reception band, so I’m throwing parties all the time! Also, I miss visiting the nursing home. I used to go every Thursday until my Grandma passed away. I love cheering the residents up and keeping their minds active.:) I know there are so many residents who don’t get visitors, but I love being the surrogate daughter (and I bring my 3 little girls in to be surrogate grandchildren too…they love it!). Here are some activities I’d like to do:
Entertainment Director Activities
1. International Night (a different country will be featured with facts,
pictures, folklore, personal stories from residents, music and a food to
taste.)
2. Form Board Game & Book Clubs
3. Soda Night
4. Play with Magic Snow/Make Snowmen for room decorations
5. Iron-On Quilt (I will find a blanket, feature a resident, scan personal photos and pictures of their interests ahead of time on iron-on printer paper, residents will each help iron on pictures and present the quilt as a gift)
6. Birthday Parties (maybe with resident’s favorite movie)
7. Door Decorations Craft Nights for the Seasons
8. Iron-On T-Shirt/Tote Bag Making
9. Old Time Radio Hour
10. Old Movie & Popcorn in the evenings (Netflix Membership?)
11. Paint-by-Number
12. Sing-A-Longs
13. Bingo
14. Reminiscing Game (Group board game that encourages personal story-telling)
15. Cookie Decorating
16. Australian Laboradoodle Visitation (hypoallergenic visitation dogs)
17. Dance Studio Performances (I hope to get several studios to let their students
come
perform monthly)
18. Piano Studio Perfomances
19. Drama Comedy Short Plays
20. Choir Performances
21. Featured Collectors (Individuals bring their collections to display for the evening, talk about how they acquired their items, answer questions)
22. Penny Poker night
23. Shopping Outings
24. Restaurant Outings
25. Movie Night Out
26. Travel Movie Night
27. Featured Biography
28. Poetry Readings
29. UNO Night
30. wii Bowling Night/Sports (I also own “wii Carnival Games”)
31. Hymn Sing
32. Karaoke Party
33. Corn Hole (I own a set)
34. Postcard Party
35. Nailcare Time
36. Exercise Time
37. Sit & Fit Exercise Time
38. Bible Study
39. Luau Party (beach music, Hawaiian food snacks, Beach Ball toss, watch “Blue Hawaii” with Elvis)
40. Musical Night (feature a musical movie, give history and sing-a-long lyrics, dress like a character, accompanying snacks/props)
41. Story Time
42. Ice Cream Outing
43. Donut Outing
44. Pizza Party
45. Featured Bands & Musicians
46. Park Walk Outing
47. Saturday Night New Movies
48. Farkle Night (dice game)
49. Deal or No Deal
50. Country Line Dancing
51. Guest Historians & Antiques
52. Magazine Catalogue Hour
53. Trivia Time
54. Putt-Putt Outing
55. Giant Crossword
56. Ceramics Painting
57. Church Services
58. Who Am I? (Costumed character comes in and talks about their life)
59. Banana Split Party
60. Elvis Party (Movies, Music, Fried PB&Banana Sandwiches, Elvis Impersonation Contest w Karaoke)
61. Candlelight Dinner with Violinist
62. Rootbeer (and Coke) Floats
63. Cookie Make & Bake
64. S’mores Night
65. Fresh Flower Arranging
66. Outing to St. Petersburg Sunken Gardens
67. This day in history occasional newsletter to residents
67. Outing to free Symphony Concerts
68. Smoothie Night
69. 50s Night (Music, Fad Food & Games)
70. Tye-Dye Tshirts
71. Friday Night St. Pete Shuffle Outing (free shuffleboard with live bands)
72. Lite Yoga
73. Jewelry Making (Bracelets & Necklaces)
74. Mad Hatter Tea Party (tea, cookies & read “Alice in Wonderland”)
75. Write & Read (residents write a story and read it to one another)
76. Pen Pals (email pen pals with a new friend in another country)
77. Carnival Games Nite (ring toss, cupcake walk, magnetic fishing, etc)
78. Mardi Gras (make masks, cajun food snacks, beads for everyone, zydeco music!)
79. Fondue Party (Melting Pot Donation)
80. Sharp as a Tack (word & problem solving games)
81. This is Your Life (especially for milestone birthdays)
82. Speak Easy (know the secret password to get into this underground club for a night of jazz, beverage tasting)
83. Suncatchers Craft Time
84. Speech Club Recitations (homeschool speech group will come and do skits,poetry, monologues and maybe even a little persuasive speaking)
85. Drive-In Movie Night (wall-projection movie, if possible, popcorn &
candy)
86. Classic Car Cruise-In (host once a year in our parking lot)
87. Car Show Outings (Quaker Steak & other local car shows)
88. Comedy Night (Carol Burnett Show, The Dean Martin Show, etc.)
89. Wheel of Fortune Nite
90. Paladia Concerts
91. Write Letters to Someone Famous
92. Indoor Bowling
93. Giant Tic-Tac-Toe
94. Oreo Checkers
95. Indoor Picnic (sandwiches, potato salad, watermelon & lemonade…on checker table cloth…but no ants)
96. Pizza Making! (make & bake a little pizza how you want it)
97. Playdoh isn’t Just for Kids (squish, roll, make “cookies”)
98. Planes, Trains, Cars & Motorcycles (come look through tons of books
& magazines)
Holiday Activities:
1. New Years Eve Party (watch Times Square ball drop, party blowers, hats, sparkling wine)
2. Tournament of Roses Parade
3. Chinese New Year (Make paper lanterns, a long hallway dragon & “hong baos” – little envelopes with chocolate coins and candy)
4. Valentines for fellow residents & staff
5. Visit from Cupid passing out chocolates
6. St. Patrick’s Day Party (Irish Dancing Performance)
7. April Fools Day Silly Hats
8. Easter Egg Hunt
9. Egg Decorating
10. Visit from the Easter Bunny
11. May Day Baskets to give to someone else
12. Cinco de Mayo fiesta (mariachi music, non-alcoholic margaritas & nacho building)
13. Mother’s Day Tea (tea choices, petit fours, cookies, chick flick)
14. Armed Forces Day (recognize all of our residents who served)
15. Memorial Day (make red, white & blue decorations, hot dog/hamburger
cookout)
16. Father’s Day (cookout, non-alcoholic beer, watch “The Dirty
Dozen”)
17. 4th of July – Go See Fireworks!
18. Labor Day Cookout
19. Grandparent’s Day (arrange for as many grandchildren to call or visit
as possible…at
least get family to email recent photos)
20. Columbus Day (watch “Christopher Columbus: The Discovery,” ship’s biscuit, pickled or salted meat, dried peas, cheese, grape juice, & fish)
21. Jack-o-lanterns out of construction paper & tissue paper
22. Trick-or-Treating & Costumes
23. Veteran’s Day (recognize all veterans, funny war stories coffee time
& music)
24. Thanksgiving (make cornucopias, watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” real Thanksgiving Day food to try)
25. Decorate Christmas Trees for facility
26. Make Stockings for everyone’s Door
27. Ornament Painting
28. Christmas Cookie Decorating
29. Staff pick a Resident Secret Santa
30. Christmas Party with Visit from Santa & Open Presents
31. Gasparilla Pirate Party (maybe an outing to the daytime children’s parade?, eyepatches for everyone, watch a pirate movie and make staff walk the plank)
32. Superbowl Party
33. Veteran’s Day Elementary Student Interviews
34. Christmas Popcorn & Cranberry Strings
35. Sweeheart Stories! (come tell us a story about your sweetheart! a first date? something funny that happened? a dance?)
Other:
*Post All Sports Game Schedules and their airing information
*You may occasionally see some bubbles in the air! 🙂
*Oldies Music playing in the hallways
*Call Magician, Hula Dancer, Belly Dancer, Instrumentalists, Reenactment Groups, and all sorts of professional entertainers to donate a show
*Office fishbowl & ant farm (which may occasionally go for a walk)
I’m very frugal and I know where every craft & party supply store is in
all of Tampa Bay! We can do all these things cheaply, but still have a lot of
fun! I know that after cleanliness and attentive staff, prospective residents
& their families will look at the calendar to see what’s going on. I’ll
keep it full of fun and different things to do! These wonderful people have
been extraordinary mothers and fathers, served to protect our freedom, lived
through 6 wars and have a lifetime of jobs and experiences behind each face
(be it grouchy or happy). They deserve so much from us, but the least we can
do is fill each of their days with us with happy thoughts and love.
I’d love to come in and talk to you more about this position. Please give me
a call or email me back.
************************end of her message****************
That’s a great list of activities! Needless to say – we hope she gets an interview!
Holy Cow!! What a great list of activities. I’m going to print a copy of this and bring it in for my grandfathers activity director. Plenty of things to choose from and many are inexpensive!
Thank you for this. Can you post a pdf, or word file for future use?
Thanks!
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What an awesome list! I really like #5, 16, 17 and 98. At our we have a big bubba barbeque and frequently hold outdoor events featuring our delicious recipes. Also, think about a car talk evening for guys and gals in your assisted living center – they can reminisce about their favorite cars and where they went and who they went with in those cars. I truly believe a good assisted living activity director can make all the difference in whether residents are happy or not.
Todd, great comments – I love your big bubba barbecue idea, and the car talk – I mean, most guys can talk about cars, and have a lot of fun with it. Thanks for your comments!
Great list! And a lot of them could be intergenerational in nature, volunteer led, used to support marketing efforts…After years of working in senior living communities, I know how thinking in a creative way (like Amy did) is important but you also need to look at other ways to include the programming in meeting other facility needs, and to be on the radar of other staff.
I hope Amy was hired some place. Looks like she has great skills and a desires to make a difference.
JoAnn – love your comment – thank you! I can imagine how hard it might be to come up with an activities schedule that is creative, and that pleases everyone. Probably a very under-appreciated, yet so important position at any facility. Thanks again for your comment!
David
I want to hire this person!!! Who is it???
Carmen, I wish I knew – this was a few years ago, so I don’t have the person’s name any more, unfortunately…
These are all great activity ideas! Did this person get hired? If not, she should have. Thank you for sharing these ideas. This is a great way for activity professionals to expand their creativity and come up with new ideas by learning and networking with other activity professionals.
Linda, thanks so much for your comment – I have no idea if they got hired or not, but the list was outstanding. Still is. Activities are at the core of a facility’s ability to provide happiness, engagement and stimulation, and I am so glad that the list seems to have been helpful. I appreciate your comment Linda. Take Care!
This list is awesome!! I am an Activities Coordinator and this just helped decide what I am doing for my ladies on Mother’s Day. Thanks so much for posting this.
Natalie, so great to hear that! Which facility do you work for?
this is some good Ideas for lots of activities professionals. I’m the Recreation Director where I work and I have definitely stole some ideas from this 🙂
David, sorry it took so long for me to respond. I just came across your post again as I was searching for some ideas for our Family Picnic in June and I seen your comment. I work for Hope Landing Adult Living Community in Charlotte, MI. I did print the list off and have incorporated several of the ideas here. Lots of good ideas! Thanks again for posting.
Hi Natalie, thanks for your reply. That list has been very helpful to a lot of people. Glad it gave you some ideas. Wishing you a wonderful picnic!
If this woman got hired, I hope she has staff/reliable volunteers to assist. I’m an A.D. in an assisted living facility with no activity aides, zero help from other staff and it’s impossible to get volunteers. I’m at my wits end trying to come up with new activities for over 70 residents including a memory care unit! I am however, going to use the listed ideas and hopefully be able to save my job since my administrator thinks I’m not doing enough. Oh, did I mention that I’m also responsible for marketing outside of the facility? If this woman reads this post, my job will probably be available if she’s interested. Thank you for the post.
I hear it all the time- staff who are underpaid, overstretched and overworked, with bosses who expect miracles from them in an already challenging environment. I hope the ideas help, and I hope you get some help and relief.