 During the Depression, people needed something to lift their spirits! They would go to the movies and during the 8 minute cartoon, Betty Boop got into all kinds of predicaments but everything always turned out good. She diverted America’s attention from the Depression and they fell in love. The Betty Boop character with all her charm and charisma was created and she is more popular today than she ever was! To be honest, I never knew a thing about Betty before today except "Boop boop be do" I and don't own one thing with her on it!
So you may wonder how I ended up having Betty Boop Day. I will tell you. The fact of the matter is that almost everybody has something to share, including friends, co-workers and residents alike. Once a month, I have a brainstorming session with the residents and try to find out what they're interested in, if they collect anything and/or what they would like to learn. With the help of the computer, it is so easy to research the history or fun facts of just about anything! My residents think I know everything! I always tell them "I know a little bit about some things and a lot about nothing!" Whatever the subject is, I like to find websites that are easy to read and the facts are listed and separated, making it easier for me to tell the residents and sound like I know what I'm talking about! I rarely have time to "study" so I need information that is easy to transfer to my eager audience!
 During one of my brainstorming sessions, one of the residents told me that she collected Betty Boop. Then I heard that one of the staff had a collection, too! And that's all it took to come up with the idea of Betty Boop Day! I asked them both to bring down their collection on a particular day so I could display it all together. One important thing on a day like this is coordinate the music with the theme. I went to itunes and bought 5 songs song by Helen Kane including "I Wanna be Loved by You" and "Button up your Overcoat" and I also ordered Betty Boop Videos on Netflix to fill in some time. The music and my costume were what really gave the day the energy. Everybody was "boop boop de booping!" I ordered the wig on ebay and the flapper dress I had in my costume closet but I almost wore a black skirt and red shirt, which would have been fine. I also had on eyelashes and red lipstick, which gave it a nice touch. I used my thick red ponytail holder as a garter and cut out a red heart out of construction paper and pinned it on.
Outside of the collection and presentation of the trivia I learned, the only other Betty Boop activities were the word search and Betty Boop Wheel of Fortune, playing on the board with all things related to Betty. Did you know that the reason she covered her mouth and opened her eyes real wide was to say “keep your eyes open and your mouth shut??” I learned as much as I taught today.
I was also happy that my Mom stopped by. She gets a kick seeing me in my crazy get ups and seeing what I do for a living. I got my start because of what she taught me. It was fun today giving a big round of applause over and over to both the resident and the staff member who brought in their stuff. I really appreciated their "share and tell" and by having everyone clap their hands and having them stand up as special guests, it gave them two important things any human needs, which is validation and appreciation, especially for the resident. I interviewed her about how she got started collecting and her memories of when she was a child, and for the day, she felt like a star! And she was! What was really sweet was that she came into my office at the end of the day and gave me a little trinket to thank ME for having the day! I was appreciated too!
Happy Betty Boop Day!
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GINGER'S CREATIVE COSTUMES AND ACTIVITIES