SPRING CLEAN
This is a working activity to help residents achieve a sense of value and pride in the place they call home.
Learn & Listen – I am not sure if everyone had the traditional twice a year major cleaning of their home, but as a child my mom did a Spring cleaning usually around April so the windows could be open to air out the winter stuffiness and again in Fall to prepare our home for winter. In the spring we would clean one room each day until every room was spotlessly clean. There were lots of major things to do like clean windows, wash moldings around the floors, paint, wash all window treatments, install screen windows, clean carpets or wax wood floors, closets were cleaned out and all winter clothing put in storage and spring/summer clothes were hung in their place. There were kitchen cabinets to clean and of course new lining paper had to be put down in the cabinets to match the new color scheme for the year. The bed rooms were about the same with the exception of the extra chore of turning the mattress and of course all the rooms had to have the furniture cleaned and moved around to give a fresh look about the rooms. Yes, spring cleaning at our house was a major event and believe it or not as children we had the best time helping mom with all the major chores. It was the daily chores we did not like to do. For some reason the harder chores were easier than the same old daily cleaning we had to do.
Ask the residents if they remember helping their mom or grandma with the yearly spring cleaning around their house. Did they wash walls or paint? What type of cleaner did they use to wash windows? Did they have to help clean out the tool shed? What were some of their funnies memories about spring cleaning? Make sure all your residents attending this activity have a chance to tell their story about spring cleaning memories. Encourage residents to do a little spring cleaning in their own rooms such as changing out picture frames with new pictures, pack away their winter clothes and put up spring/summer clothes in their closets or dresser drawers, change the door decoration or change their bedspread to a lighter color. Encourage their family members to come participate in helping them make some simple changes to their room as part of the spring cleaning theme.
If you plan early enough you can ask all staff member to get involved in the spring cleaning theme by asking them to do an extra cleaning of their assigned area. Ask them to sort through the papers on their desk, complete any delayed filing task, rearrange their station and wipe down any areas that may be missed during regular cleaning.
Ask if the maintenance department can clean and change around pictures for a new look. If you have a sun room that has chairs with cushions you can make or purchase some new cushion covers, add new table clothes to end tables, wash and rearrange any flower arrangements, move the furniture around a little. Remember if you have blind residents you will need to walk them through so they can learn the new layout. Don’t overdue the changes and as always keep your residents in mind with making any type of changes. Some will be excited to see the changes while others may become frantic with confusion. This theme can be a big event or just a simple fun day to remember the refreshing of our homes to welcome in spring.
Game – Matching game – You will need to print pictures of the following items and attach (glue, tape or staple) to poster board or stock card paper: mop, bucket, broom, dust pan, paper towels or newspaper, windex cleaner or vinegar, curtains, windows, paint brush, paint pails, carpet cleaner, carpet, silver plate, silver polish and polishing cloth, scrub brush, soap scrub powder.
Shuffle the pictures good then turn face down and number each with big numbers 1 through 16. Pin up or tape the picture face down with the numbers showing to the residents on a wall or board. Let the residents take turns calling out two numbers each. Turn the cards over to see if they can match the cleaner with the cleaning tool. Example: Mop will match with bucket, broom with match with dust pan, etc. Play this game just like the matching game we all have played in the past with the exception that there are not two items alike, however these two items work together will help you clean.
Food – Today’s activity with food will not be a food preparation but an activity to clean out the activity kitchen. Ask residents for their help to clean up the kitchen. Pull out all the cooking supply from the cabinets and set on tables so residents can check for expiration dates on each item. Make sure to have a magnifying glass on hand because even good eyes have a hard time seeing the dates that are small print. Throw out the expired items and have one resident make a list of items that need to be replaced. Do the same with the fridge and freezer. Have residents that can help wipe out the cabinets shelves or ask volunteers to help with this task. If you have a window consider replacing the curtains to a different design and if you have any other kitchen decor then either clean them or replace them for a new look. Make sure during the cleaning you have drinks on hand and some snacks to reward your residents for their hard work. OR skip the cleaning and make spring rolls with the residents and enjoy.
Exercise – During exercise today do some of the movements that one would do during their house work.
- Do the wax on, wax off movement with the arms like in the movie Karate Kid. With both hands held up in front or on a table top begin moving hand in a clock motion and the other in a counter-clock motion, and then reverse the arm movement. Make big enough movements so the arm is stretched out and the upper arm is getting exercised as well.
- While sitting down have residents hold to the side of their chairs and raise their legs as if a vacuum cleaner was going under them. Repeat several times slowly.
- Raise arms from waist area to above their head as if they were lifting something to put in a cabinet. Repeat several times. Remember to tell them to do this movement slow since you want to achieve the same strength building motion that it takes to lift a heavy object to be placed in a cabinet.
- For residents that can bend their knees, let them bend and straighten to pick up laundry.
- For residents in chairs let them bend as far as they can and stretching their arms in motions to pick up laundry. Remind them not to bend forward to far because you don’t want them falling out of their chairs. Remind them slow movements work best and not to extend a bend or stretch to far so they don’t get hurt.
Craft – Again this will be a working activity to go along with our theme. Ask residents to come help clean out the craft center closet/cabinets. Have some match crafts items to put in containers/baskets and label with the contents on each. If this is already done then just remove craft containers and clean off shelving, then reorganize containers in order. Remember glue and paint do not last forever, check to make sure glue sticks have not dried up or the paint has not harden. Trash any old unusable material and have a resident make a list of craft items that need replacing, or supplies you are out of. Keeping a complete inventory of your craft supplies will help when it’s time to make your next craft project purchases. This will also help the residents see what you have that they may want to make for their next craft project. Now is a good time to ask residents for craft project ideas that they might have made in the past and would like to do again.
Game – Find it in the sink – This will be a challenge game to see which resident can find dishes (toy or small plastic utensils in a box filled with packing peanuts, popcorn or use shredded paper. Fill box for each participating resident and mix in small plastic cups (the Dixie 2oz size will work best), small desert plates, small bowl, forks, spoons and mini baby bottles. I recommend you put at least five items per box or at least the same number of items in each box for easy tracking. Make sure the box is deep enough to cover all the items you put in for the residents to find.
Instruct them to find the items in a certain amount of time then start your time. The first to find all five items wins. Or you can ask them to feel around and pull out a certain item like the fork. The first resident to successfully complete your instructions in finding the specific item wins. You can play this several times or race until everyone has found all their items in their sink-box.
Social – After all is cleaned then reward everybody with a time to relax in their clean activity rooms. Serve light refreshments and enjoy some relaxing music. Remember to thank all residents and staff for participating in today’s cleaning event.
SLIDERS: LET THE GAMES BEGIN - BASEBALL THEME
Learn & Listen – April 4th is the first Major League Baseball game of the year. You can find the regular season schedule on MLB.com and then check out lots of Major League History on Wikipedia to discuss with your residents. I recommend you print out the schedule so you can see which games will be aired on your local cable channels and plan an activity game party around your resident’s favorite teams to cheer them on.
During this activity talk to the residents about the information you read on Wikipedia (unless you’re a baseball fan and can talk the talk). Ask questions to get the discussion started such as: Have they ever attended a major league game? If so, who was playing and do they remember the score? Ask them question relating to the history information you reviewed on Wikipedia.
Game – Batter up! Play a game of baseball with foam noodles and a balloon or if you have a Wii get one of the baseball games to let the residents play. Make sure to divide up in teams and get the staff involved by letting them be on resident’s teams as well. Have fun playing American’s favorite pass time game!
Food – Make little hamburger sliders to incorporate the theme name. The mini hamburgers are quick and easy to make. Stores now sell the mini hamburger buns so you don’t have to cut bread slices into squares. No need to go overboard; just serve with cheese, ketchup, mustard or mayo or serve peanuts, popcorn and hot dogs! Let residents make some popcorn or cook some hot dogs. Try to make decorate the kitchen with some baseball decor to get the residents in the mood or weather permitting take them outside to fix the hot dogs on the grill.
Exercise – Doing the exercise today try to incorporate some moves they use in baseball and if you can get enough baseball bats they would work for props to use for stretches and baseballs to do hand griping exercises. For residents that have difficulty with lifting give them a team flag to wave for movements instead of the bat. The main point is to incorporate today’s theme in your exercise program today with either music, props, moves, or include baseball trivia during rest time between each exercise.
Craft – Make baseball team pennants. Use the following materials: poster board the color of their favorite team, construction paper, glue, scissors, markers, printed pictures of the team’s mascot.
- Cut out a pennant shape from color poster board.
- Cut out strips of the second team color from construction paper.
- Cut out two circles from white paper to use as baseballs for both sides of the pennant. Use a red marker to make the design on the white circles to make it looks more like a baseball.
- Glue the second team color strips and the baseball circles on each side.
- Now glue on the team mascot to finish the pennants.
- If the residents don’t have a favorite team, then just let them decorate the pennant with words such as Cheer, Go Team, #1 or any other fun decoration.
Game – Name That Player
Check out baseball-almanac.com for historical player information that you can use to create status information to give to the residents so they can guess the players name. You can even print out some pictures when you go to the player’s page and click on the player’s name. Cover up the player’s name on the picture and see if they can name the player.
Movie – Oh, there are so many baseball movies out there to show but here are a few and as always preview the movie to see if it is appropriate for your residents.
- Angles in the Outfield (fun baseball movie) – 1994 – Tony Danza, Danny Glover
- The Babe – 1992 – John Goodman, Kelly McGillis
- Eight Men Out – 1988 – John Cusack, Clifton James
- Field of Dreams – 1989 – Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan
- A League of Their Own (a little something for the women) – 1992 – Tom Hanks, Geena Davis
- The Natural – 1884 – Robert Redford, Robert Duvall
For more suggestions Google baseball movies and you will find a ton of suggestions if you don’t want to use any of these.
POETRY IN MOTION - IN HONOR OF POETRY MONTH
- Encourage residents to write a poem and host a coffee shop for them to read or have it read to all that attend.
- Find a short Shakespeare skit and let your resident/staff drama group perform it for the facility and family. If you don’t have a drama group then call a local high school or college that does have send their drama group to come out and perform the skit.
- Read poems from famous poets and discuss with residents who the poet was, what their life was like.
- Host a Poet customer party, asking all residents to dress as their favorite poets and then let them guess who they are dressed as. Award a prize for the one that has the best costume and one who can recite at least one poem by the poet they have dressed up as.
SAIL THE SEVEN SEAS
Learn & Listen – Look up seven seas online to read over and discuss with the residents about what the phrase “Seven Seas” really is referring to in different areas of the world. Ask if any of the residents were sailors in the Navy, had a sail boat of their own, or took a sea cruse. Let them reminisce about their days at sea.
Game – Word Scrabble – You can either write these on the white board or type them up and pass them out for the residents to unscramble.
- eas naenarretidem (Mediterranean Sea)
- lackb aes (Black Sea)
- edr aes (Red Sea)
- nabiraa aes (Arabian Sea)
- erisnap ugfl (Persian Gulf)
- epcania eas (Caspian Sea)
- eanco ficicap (Pacific Ocean)
- latantic caeno (Atlantic Ocean)
- dianin naeco (Indian Ocean)
- ccitra caneo (Arctic Ocean)
- lufg fo icoxem (Gulf of Mexico)
- added eas (Dead Sea)
- lielagie of eas (Sea of Galilee)
- ouhts inahc eas (South China Sea)
Food – Let’s make some easy seafood recipes for the residents to enjoy. You can use any simple recipe relating to seafood, but here are a few of my favorites that are very easy and few ingredients:
Yummy Crab meat spread (my recipe - extremely easy)
- 1 package of imitation crab meat shredded
- 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter (depends on size of crab package)
- Pack of Melba toast rounds
- Combine crab meat and butter in microwave bowl. Heat in the microwave long enough to melt the butter and stir to coat the crab meat with butter. Serve on Melba toast rounds.
- This is another quick fix appetizer recipe for office parties or unexpected guest with just two ingredients that can be served with crackers or toasted bread wedges if you don't have Melba toast rounds.
Tuna Salad mini sandwiches (my recipe)
- 2 cans tuna packed in water - drained
- 1/2 cup of light Mayo – you can add more if it is not moist enough for your taste
- 1/2 celery stalk – chopped finely
- 1/4 cup Onion – chopped finely
- 1/4 cup Dill pickles – finely and add in a little pickle juice too for extra flavor and moisture
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
- Mini dinner rolls – they usually come in packs of 24
- Combine all ingredients until mixed thoroughly. Spread about a tablespoon of tuna salad on each mini roll. Serve with cucumber slices or chips.
- Another version is to make the above tuna recipe except use ranch dressing instead of Mayo and spread on dried tomato wrap, roll and slice in one inch slices and insert fancy toothpicks to keep wrap tight. Salt and pepper are optional.
Exercise – Enjoy exercising to some ocean sounds or pep it up with songs relating to the sea such as: Anchors Aweigh, Blow the Man Down, The McHale’s Navy theme song, Gilligan’s Island theme song, Ships by Barry Manilow, Catch a Wave by Beach Boys, Kokomo by Beach Boys, Sail on Sailor by the Beach Boys, Key Largo by Bertie Higgins, A Sailboat in the Moonlight by Billie Holiday, Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean, The Tide is High by Blondie, Sailing sung by Rod Stewart or Sutherland Brothers.
Craft – Build a sailboat. The men will love it and the women will have fun trying something new. You can purchase simple sailboat kits to make or try a fun recycle kit.
Game – Have a boat race. Play this the same way you would play the horse race game (Kentucky Derby), except use the boats instead. If will help to if you add some blue material or tissue paper to make the table look like water. Add some nautical decor around the table and room to give sea shore feel and if you can find a clock of a CD with ocean, lighthouse horn, sea gulls or boat horn sound then this would just make the game even more fun. Ask staff and volunteers to dress in sailor suit and of course you should dress as the captain since you are in charge of the activities.
You can also get one of the long inflatable kid pools filled with water and let them race their sailboats they made during craft time. You will need a fan to provide a breeze for the sails if this is done indoors or if there is not enough air circulating outside.
You could skip the race altogether and play “Name that Song”. Play this just like name that tune, except you read some of the lyrics of a song and the residents have to provide the song title that the lyrics came from. Find sea song lyrics online.
Movie – Suggestions – As always preview the movie to see if it is appropriate for your residents.
- Show Boat – 1951 – Kathryn Grayson and Ava Gardner
- Crimson Tide – 1995 – Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman
- Titanic – 1997 – Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet
- The Perfect Storm – 2000 – George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg
Try to stay away from the pirate movies since they are usually used during pirate themes. Keeping it based on sail boats or more modern ship movies will work best for today’s theme.
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CHRISTINE'S THEMES: 