| FAMOUS COUPLES
Game – Match the couples that belong together. You can give hints if you need to.
- Antony and Cleopatra
- Abigail and John Adams
- Napoleon and Josephine
- Annie Oakley and Frank Butler
- Franklin E. and Eleanor Roosevelt
- George Burns and Gracie Allen
- Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow
- Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
- Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
- Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly
- Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
- John Lennon and Yoko One
Fashion Show – Have a famous couples fashion show. Let couples and staff dress up in the same time era that their favorite couple was famous in. When they are modeling don’t give the name of the couple they have chosen, just give three hints as to who they are. Let the other residents vote on who they are. The couple with the most correct votes wins.
Game – Name things that are usually coupled together:
- Peanut butter and jelly
- Apple pie and vanilla ice cream
- Table and chairs
- Knife and forks
- Sun and sky
- Moon and stars
- Day and night
- Salt and pepper
- Bacon and eggs
Social - Have a social so couples can dance, serve perfect pear desserts.
Movie – Suggestions: Frankie and Johnny, Bonnie and Clyde, Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter
ENGAGEMENT PARTY
Since February is the month that most couples get engaged, host an engagement party. Set this up just like you do your wedding in June. You could even have a wedding celebration at the end of February or on Valentine’s Day to change things up a bit. A lot of couples get engaged or married on Valentine’s Day than any other holiday month.
Learn & Listen – Discuss with your residents how they became engaged.
Do they remember how they proposed or how they were proposed to?
Where were they, in a park, at home, in a restaurant or their special dating place?
Did they have something funny happen during the proposal?
Let them open up and reflect on this special time in their life.
Food – Anything chocolate! You could have residents make small chocolate boxes to put a candy ring in. For each resident you will need 3 Hersey chocolate bars or chocolate graham crackers, icing paste (this is just a very thick icing, but you can also use can icing) and a candy ring. Break chocolate bars (or graham crackers) in half and form into a box using the icing paste to hold the pieces together. Remember to lay one half down for the box bottom and four pieces for the sides. Put the candy ring inside the box and set the last half on top as the lid. You can have them decorate the top with icing and sprinkles before putting it on top.
Exercise – Get your residents ready to dance the evening away. Lead them through some stretches and through some easy slow dances to prepare them for the engagement party.
Craft – Let the residents help make and decorate the engagement party decorations. Make large hearts (red and pink) out of construction paper. Add something special to the hearts by layering them with lace paper hearts or let the residents get creative on their own by adding glitter, lace, feather, whatever you have in supply to decorate the hearts. You can also make large engagement rings or any other item that might be used at an engagement party (black box, flowers, boxed candy, candles, wine bottles, wine glasses, etc.
Game – Name some famous ways to propose. Make a list of ways people propose and see if the residents can match your list. Some ideas: during a baseball game, in a restaurant, in a park, during a family dinner, during the holiday season, on Valentine’s Day, at home on the porch, at the beach, on a mountain top view, with flowers, ring in the dessert, while dancing, after asking for family permission, while watching TV, during a hot air balloon ride, in a beautiful garden, etc. The list can go one with using some of the ways the residents proposed or were proposed to from the Listen and Learn activity.
Movie – I am sure there are a lot of good movies out there relating to proposals or engagements for example, “The Proposal” starring Sandra Bullock. This movie is rated PG-13 for sexual content, nudity and language. Now I know this sounds bad, however I have seen the movie and the sexual content is suggestive, the nudity is no more than what you would see at most beaches and the language is brief. As always review any movie to see if it is something your residents would be okay with.
Social – Have an evening Engagement party so the residents can dance and toast all the wonderful memories of past engagements. Serve cheese and crackers with juice, tea or decaf coffee.
FAMILY REUNION DAY
This is a theme, not an official holiday.
Baby Photo guessing game – Request a baby picture from all staff and residents. Then display them on a bulletin board with numbers. Have a list of all the participate names to pass out to staff and residents asking them to review the baby photos and match them with the correct name. Before the end of the work day announce or post the names with the matching photo number for all to see. You can offer prizes to the person who had 10 correct, then a prize that had 20 a prize etc., so you can have several winners.
Family Bingo – Play a special round of Bingo by filling the card with all B’s and the top row across and to the free space on the third row to form an F for family. The next round fill in the space to form an R for reunion, which would be all the B column, all the top row, three down on the O column, all the row with the free space and the space under the free space, the fourth space on the G column and the last space on the O column. If you think this might be too much, then just Bingo with and X, L and all over.
Facility activity – Family style cook out for staff, residents and their families.
Relay Race – Have a staff member walk, not run while pushing a resident in a wheel chair relay race. The winning team gets a prize. REMEMBER they can only walk, not run!
Family Picture – Make sure to get the families together for a family photo. I suggest having a volunteer or another staff member to have a list of all the families attending and schedule a time for the family members to come to the photo booth for their family photo. I also suggest that you take a group picture of all your staff, the volunteers and all the residents in their own group picture. Make sure you are in the group picture as well by asking a family member to take several group shots to ensure one will turn out. After developing or printing displaying them for a short time, but then give them out to the families they belong to. They will appreciate the time you took to create a lasting memory for them to keep.
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CHRISTINE'S THEMES: 