CHRISTINE'S THEMES: CREATIVE THEMED ACTIVITY PROGRAMS
October Activities - By Christine Jennings

FALL DECORATING DAY - Suggestion: October 1st

This day is all about letting the residents and staff help decorate the facility for all the activities this month and it can also carry into November by just switching out any Halloween things for Thanksgiving items. You can make decorating into activities so you don’t have to do all the work by yourself and it gives the residents that love to decorate the opportunity to do so.

Gardening – You will need to have several large flower pots or you can use barrels filled with good soil and let the residents plant fall flowers in them such as mums, sunflowers, and ivy or fountain grass. I suggest you do this activity outdoors where the planter set up will be located. This is so you don’t have to move the heavy pots through the facility to adorn the entrance way or courtyards. If they are already there then the cleanup will be easier too. Don’t forget to get the dried cornstalks, Indian corn, gourds, scarecrows and pumpkins to accent the colorful fall pots. If you don’t want to do pots for outdoors, then hollow out table size pumpkins and place a small pot of mums in them to adorn the dining tables.

Craft – Make table runners or wall hangings by using fall print fabric cut to any size you need for your desired project. Instead of sewing the hems use hemming tape to iron the boarders of the runners or wall hanging. For the table runners purchase some tassels to hand stitch on the corners for additional decoration. If you are making the wall hanging then you will need to have a small lightweight wooden or plastic rod and rope or you can use heavy ribbon. At the top you will need to fold down enough fabric to make a pocket for the rod to go through. You can use the iron on hemming tape however I would do two rows to secure it. After you insert the rod in the pocket you can tie the cord or ribbon around each end of the rod. You can use a temporary wall hook that can be removed without hurting the walls. The can be temporary or removable wall hooks can be found at any discount or hardware store.

If each resident makes a table runner or wall hanging then you should have enough to decorate the tables and several walls. Make sure to label the craft projects with the residents name so they can be returned to the owners after November.

Another suggestion is to make large bows out of fall colored ribbons or use the crepe paper to make the bows out of. This will give some additional decorations around the nurse station or the front desk area. If you have trees around your facility with branches that have fallen then collect them for decorations. You will have to rinse with water to remove any insects on them before bringing them in the facility. Take one of the large bows and tie around the bundle of branches to set in a corner or in a large vase for inexpensive decorations.

Cooking – This project is to feed the birds more than the residents, so remind them of this as you work on this cooking project. You will need the following items: pine cones, cheerios, popcorn, dried cranberries and/or cracked corn, birdseed, suet, peanut butter, wire, ribbon

Instructions - Tie a wire or orange/yellow ribbon about the top part of the pine cones so you can hang them around the outside of the facility windows. Spread the peanut butter on the pine cones and then roll it into the mixture of their choice.

Creative door contest – Have the residents decorate their room door themselves. You can help them hang, tape or whatever else to get the decorations on the door, but let them design it themselves. Ask all staff, volunteers and family to assist the residents, however they need to encourage the residents to be creative. Then ask three vendors or local art teachers to come judge the doors. Give a prize for the top three or five doors. You don’t have to have the judging on this day but let it be the beginning of the door decorating. You may want to give three days, but no longer than a week before the judging takes place.

Social – At the end of the busy decorating day invite all the residents, staff and family to enjoy relaxing music and some light refreshments as they enjoy the beauty of all the fall colors that the residents adorned the facility in with flowers and craft project they worked hard on today.

GREAT PUMPKIN

Learn & Listen – Read all about pumpkins on the internet and discuss your findings with the residents. Ask them if they ever grew pumpkins in their gardens. What did they do with their pumpkins? Did they can them? Make pumpkin pies, bread or soup? Talk about all the wonderful things they did growing up with pumpkins.

Game – Pass the pumpkin – This is just like hot potato, but you pass a mini pumpkin instead. Set up chairs in a circle. Play some upbeat music and let the residents pass the mini pumpkin until you stop the music. The resident holding the mini pumpkin is out and must step away from the circle (give them a treat so they will stay and watch). Continue playing the music off and on until one resident is left and give them a special treat for being the last person in the circle.

Food – Pumpkin Cookie Dip - this is some great stuff and once you start eating it you have a really had time stopping, it’s just that good.
Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain pumpkin (not pie mix)
• 2 pack 8oz cream cheese
• 2 cups confectionary sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve with cookies such as Ginger Snaps, Graham Crackers or Lemon Wafers. This is great to serve at any social.

• Wacky West – paint some silly faces on the pumpkins and add western attire such as cowboy hats, scarves, kid cowboy boots or bonnets for the girls.
• Crazy Kingdom – King and queen, prince and princess crowns, scarves to use as robes, and don’t forget the throne. You can even add a court jester to add to the silliness.
• Sea Side Sailors – sailor attire with a boat and anchor.
• Goofy Golfers – golf clubs, golf balls, and don’t forget those silly golfer hats.
• Doctors and nurses – ask the staff to decorate this group of pumpkins so they can join in on all the fun.

Make the trail long enough so the residents will get a good walk in to equal the exercise activity time. If you want to make sure they did the entire walk you can have the pumpkin patches set up at locations were someone is always there to stamp or check off the patch on their map and return to you so you can see they did the entire walk.

Craft – Help residents make a fall wreath with mini pumpkins to hang on their doors or in their rooms. You can purchase foam kits which are light weight and easy to assemble from most crafts stores. Wreaths can also be made from real fall leaves you found outdoors and plastic mini pumpkins glued to a twig wreath ring or a cardboard ring.

Game – Ring the pumpkin
Material:
2 - Tall pumpkins
8 - Large plastic rings (use small hula hoops)

Instructions - Set the tall pumpkins a good distance from each other and about six to eight feet in front of each pumpkin have a tossing line. Allow two residents at a time attempt to ring a pumpkin. Give residents four rings and from the tossing line try to ring a pumpkin by tossing the rings to cover the pumpkin. The resident having the most rings around the pumpkin wins a special treat.

Social – Have a pumpkin social to celebrate the fall and the great pumpkin. Serve something different to highlight the great pumpkin like the pumpkin cookie dip with cookies, or try pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pie punch (see below) or coffee or tea.

Pumpkin Pie Punch - Ingredients:
• 6 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• 3 cups brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons nutmeg
• 6 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 cups orange juice
• 6 quarts vanilla yogurt (frozen)

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth. This can be served in a hollowed out pumpkin

PASTOR APPRECIATION DAY
2nd Sunday in October

Pastor Appreciation Day is always the second Sunday in October, but honors the ministers that come to inspire residents faithfully each week. Since their local churches will honor them on Sunday the facility can honor them the week before.

Cooking – Have the residents to assist in making cupcakes or cookies to serve during the appreciate social for all the ministers that volunteer at your facility. OR you could have them bake a cake to give as an individual gift to each minister to say thank you for all they do for the residents.

Craft – Have the residents make cards or decorate a large poster board having all residents and staff sign to give one to each minister during their social time.

Writing - Ask some of the residents to write a poem or just a simple letter of appreciation so they can read it to the ministers during the social time.

Social – This social is to honor all the ministers that help in your facility. Prior to this day send invitations requesting the honor of their presents during your social time. Let them know this is to honor them since in a way they are the pastors of the residents at your facility. This will not be a time to preach, but for them to allow the residents to show their appreciation for all they do for them. During this time serve refreshments, let the residents read their poems or letters out loud, present the ministers their cards and cakes. If you have staff or residents that sing, then let them honor the ministers in song. A good song for them to learn to honor ministers is “Wind beneath my wing”. You may also want to invite the residents, staff and families. So many pastors do not receive the appreciation for the work they do in facilities, so this would be a good time to honor them. They are a big part of your activity schedule. You can also present them with a certificate of appreciation in closing of the social event.

CHRISTINE'S THEMES:
CREATIVE THEMED ACTIVITY PROGRAMS

By Christine Jennings

Activity Professionals know that themes are a great way to spruce up any activity program. The following themes are a compilation of various holidays, fun themes, anytime themes, and cultural themes. These themed activity programs may be stretched outfor an entire week or condensed into a day. In addition, many of the activity themes can be done throughout the year but I have categorized many of the themes to spread out your creative programs throughout the year. I hope you find these pages easy to use and helpful in your activity planning. Have fun!

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