I am looking for a few activities to get my senior residents involved in besides bingo! any suggestions?

Answer 1

This question seems to get asked on here with regularity.

What we need to pay attention to, is the way Yahoo Answers has been set up. In the green headers at the top of this page, you will notice an area that says "Search for questions:". Yahoo has provided us with a completely accessible tool to search for answers to our questions, before we post them, by looking at what other people might have replied to the same or similar questions.

When you type "activities for seniors" into the window provided and hit search, it supplies you with 424 answers. Maybe one of them will be just exactly what you are looking for...

http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result;_ylt=Aq6CDG9Np1fkpZ3ZiuHyBUWJShh.?p=activities+for+seniors

Answer 2

I have a friend that is the activity director at a residential care facility. They have loads of activities besides cards and bingo. They play a game called penny ante (sp?) where they ask the residents random questions like have you ever lived in another country, have you ever met a celebrity, if the answer is yes they take a penny, the person with the most pennies wins a small prize. They have manicure sessions where the seniors get lotion and polish on their nails, amazingly the men like this as much as the women, they get clear polish. They take them on outings occasionally to Target or out to dinner, they play games where they sit at a table and toss a ball back and forth amongst each other. Exercises performed sitting down is another idea. They also show movies once a week that the residents choose. Hope these ideas helped!

Answer 3

so am i, bingo is as much fun as watching grass grow in my opionon. i am a senior in a senior highrise. i have appointed myself the activitiy person just because no one else wanted to do anything. here are some of my suggestions

movie night (most everybody has dvd bring one or 2 that the enjoy and play them that night, everyone would get a night to share their favorite movie)

craft class, a lot of us seniors know how to do things but people forget to ask us what we know, so i have started a craft class once a week making something different and very inexpensive.

i started an excerise class (before someone in a wheelchair tells me one more time i cant do that) wrong wrong wrong, everyone can excerise. they do have excerises for people in wheelchairs. keep healthy and going if for no other reason than to bother your children.

fun time, tell something from your childhood, a joke, something funny that happened to someone you know. talking about the past really gets some of our residents to open up and feel good about themselves.

looking forward to some great ideas for me and my senior residents

Answer 4

I worked in an assisted living we used to do some of these activities.....Once a month we had what we called " Family Night" Each resident could invite whom ever they wanted. We would cook up all the food, set up the dining room really nice. One time the family members brought all of the desserts...boy, did we have spread. Cook something easy...spaghetti, garlic bread, salad.
Music, find someone to come in and perform.
Make jewelry, beads, etc are cheap and easy to find.
Dogs...therapy dogs, everyone loves to pet a dog.
Trips to the local library.
Out for ice cream.
Have someone come in and do manicures (our local cosmetology class from the high school was more than willing to come.
Have a remembrance day.
Trivia...lots of web sites out there to use
Bible study and church...get local pastor to come in
Popcorn and movie day.
Happy hour...our seniors loved this....
Cooking classes......
Girl Scouts love to come in and do arts and crafts
Easter egg hunt at Easter with family members
BBQ cook out
Treat or treat in the facility..we bought the candy and the seniors handed it out.
Christmas carols around the tree at Christmas

Answer 5

We had a 1920's 1930's 1940's day and so on, with musical guests, and decorations from the era, that everyone made themselves, we even had "mock" drinks of the period.
We were taught to play Texas hold 'em, and other cards we did not know.
We even had a day or two where we had pictures made of us, like cameos in a locket but much nicer.
Oh yeah this month we are going on a short day trip to a beadery to make jewelery.
I hope this helps. There are so many things you can get involved in, like tia chi ,yoga, and senior walks through the gardens to have a picnic lunch.
Thank you for asking this question, it made me remember why I started going to our SC.

Answer 6

My mother enjoyed senior aerobics, dance lessons, painting, sing alongs, get someone to play all the "old" songs for the sing along.

I bought the senior home some tapes of songs like "coming in on a wing and a prayer", "dont sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me" "there'll be blue birds over the white cliffs of clover" "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition" etc. and some swing band music - Benny Goodman etc.

Picnics in the park, petting zoos, or bring in some little critters, warn those ahead of time who may be frightened of animals, movie night - make popcorn etc, have an intermission, rent an "old" movie with Doris Day, all kinds of games, like name that tune etc.

Or they have to draw a word and sing a song with that word in it - like "tree" whatever, putting on skits, crib night. Have little prizes ... form a "glee" club.

Have a hat party and see who can design the best hat -- you bring flowers and ribbons, and glittery stuff,

Poker night ! They love it, play for poker chips or whatever, not money - get the staff into costume for it -

It really depends on how active they are --

Answer 7

Stop treating Seniors like morons. I don't know what age group you mean, but there is more than bingo. Book clubs, movies, theater, crafts, computer training, putting on plays, creative writing, aerobics, pilates, swimming, tai chi, dancing.

I'm almost 64. I asked once at a Senior Center what they offered in computer training, They told me how to turn it on and off. I wanted advanced excel training.

Think outside the sandbox. Just because your body gets creaky doesn't mean your mind does, too.

Answer 8

I'm an activity Directior for a senior center that averages 140 seniors a day.

Activities for seniors can be garden care, pyramid bingo, short outing to park, zoo, shopping, beach, museum, etc., arts & crafts (coloring, word find, holiday crafts), pictionary, short leisure walk, sing along, karaoke, large puzzles, and knitting.

Answer 9

I worked at a senior center and they really enjoyed music days. Think creatively! Arts and crafts can be either taught, learned or both. Music is also a great idea to share. There are arts and crafts that involve communities like pottery and painting or jazz festivals that bring everyone together and makes for a lot of fun! Great question!

Answer 10

I am a retired pastry chef. Once a month I go to the retirement center where my sister is and do a cake decorating demonstration on the cake that is then used for their birthday party. I am amazed how much they enjoy watching! If I were not left handed I would give them lessons. See if you can find craft people willing to come in and do similar.