NATIONAL AVIATION DAY - August 19th
Discussion – Research this day and share the information with the residents and see if they remember anything special about a plane trip or when they saw their first air show. If you print out picture of old planes the visual might really get them talking.
Craft - How about the old fashion paper planes. Everyone loves to make paper planes and see how far they can fly.
Demonstration – Call your local RC Club and ask if some of the members will bring out small planes to show the residents. If your facility does not have a large lot that is telephone line free then you can ask if they will bring out helicopters since they do not require room for takeoff.
Ask and learn – Contact your local airport and see if a pilot will talk to the residents and let them know the residents might ask a lot of questions concerning their experience as a pilot. If you have residents that were pilots in the service or for a commercial airline, then ask them to speak to the group. Make this a social event and serve light refreshments.
Movie – Suggestions:
- Twelve O’clock High, 1949 (I highly recommend this movie.) rated G
- Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, 1965, rated G
- Fly Away Home, 1996, rated PG
BRIDGE DAY - 3rd Saturday in October
Discussion – Bridge Day is a big event celebrated in West Virginia which is attended by people from all over the word. It is the only day of the year where people can legally jump off the 798-foot bridge. Read all the information to discuss with the residents on officialbridgeday.com where you will find videos, quick links for the New River Gorge history and the detail events. You can also contact the Fayette County WV Chamber and request maps or visitor information to be sent to your facility to show your residents. There are even DVD’s that can be purchased or check with your library that show some of the most daring jumps off bridges, which most likely will have one or two from the New River Gorge Bridge. You can also check out bridge day.info for additional information. Talk to your residents about bridges in your area that are famous.
Game – Since there are a lot of parachutes seen during the bridge day event let residents play a game with a parachute. If you do not have a parachute, then a large king size sheet will do.
Cooking – No bridge day event is complete unless there are funnel cakes, so let your residents make funnel cakes. You can purchase a funnel cake kit at most discount stores. Or make Bridge mix snack. It is easy and you can make it to serve during the bridge game or the movie.
Game – Gather a group and play a game of bridge.
Music – Sing songs related to bridges, such as:
- London Bridge is Falling Down (see Wikipedia for the lyrics)
- Bridge Over Troubled Water (see old.yoursonglyrics.com for lyrics)
- Low Bridge (also known as Erie Canal Song – see Wikipedia for the lyrics)
- Love Can Build A Bridge (see lyricsfreak.com, click J, then JU-JU and Judds)
- Ask residents if they remember any songs they use to sing about bridges.
Game – See how many bridges the residents can name. You can divide up into teams roll dice to determine how many points each team gets after they have named one famous bridge on your list. You can find a list by each state on Wikipedia under “List of bridges in the United States” or for bridges all over the world just enter in “List of bridges”. You may want to start with your state first then advance to the US list.
Movie: Broken Bridges starring Toby Keith and Kelly Preston rated PG-13. This is not really a movie about bridges however it is a great movie that teaches a lesson in building bridges for relationships. I personal love this movie and have seen it a dozen times.
NATIONAL CORVETTE DAY - June 30th
Listen and Learn – Research the history of corvettes. There is a lot of information available online.
Car Show – Contact your local car club and ask them to bring out the old cars to show the residents.
Game - Have different year model cars (Hot Wheels should work just fine) and see if the residents can match the car with the year.
Craft – Let residents put together a model car. Wal-Mart has some easy kits or you can try Hobby Lobby for easy kits for them to try.
Cooking – Make stop light Jell-O Jigglers. Make one of each red, green and yellow Jell-O per instructions on the box. Take a round cookie cutter and cut our enough of each color to all residents can have one red, yellow and green light. Then place them on a graham cracker. This is a stop light Jell-O Jiggler.
Movie – Watch the cartoon movie “Cars”.
TRAINS THEME
Train ride – If you have a local train see about getting senior group discount tickets so your residents can take a train ride.
Train Show and Tell – See if you have a local train shop that will send an employee out to set up a train set to demo for the residents. Some will even let each resident control the train with their guidance.
Craft – Purchase the wooden train engine and let residents paint it to keep as their own.
Train quiz – Check out Wikipedia for information on trains to create a fun quiz about trains.
Music –Midnight Train to Georgia, Downtown Train, Love Train, The Wreck of the Ol 97, Chattanooga Choo Choo, etc.
Movie – There are a lot of documentaries about trains, so pick one and show it during movie time.
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CHRISTINE'S THEMES: 