Autumn is here and it’s time to start planning fun fall events for our residents. We don’t need to go far here in Salem, Massachusetts for Halloween themed events because of long Haunted Happenings celebrations from now until the end of October. However, at our home, we like to do fun and more typical fall activities.
We have looked at a number of ideas, and feel that these are some great suggestions provided by a recent post at the activity website entitled Not Just Bingo.
Fall Themes for Seniors Include the Following according to the article:
Harvest Theme
Autumn Door Decorations – Provide residents with a wooden leaves craft kit to create autumn leaf decorations for your facility. Afterwards, assist residents with hanging the finished leaves as door ornaments on your residents’ apartment doors.
Harvest Scenic Drive – Take residents on a scenic ride to a local pumpkin patch or animal farm. Along the way, stop by your favorite donut shop to pick up coffee and donuts for residents to enjoy on the bus once you reach your destination. One of our favorite places to visit is the Topsfield Fair every October.
Fall Jigsaw Puzzle Competition – Set out a different jigsaw puzzle on each floor of your facility (or hallway) and invite residents to work on their jigsaw puzzle throughout the season to see which floor can finish their puzzle the fastest.
Oktoberfest Theme
Beer Tasting – Since you can’t have an Oktoberfest party without beer, pass around a few brands of nonalcoholic beer for your residents to sample. The article suggests encouraging residents to judge the beer on taste, color, and smell.
Pretzel Making – Invite residents to assist you with making pretzels to celebrate Oktoberfest by using a pretzel maker. Provide residents with cups of mustard for dipping.
Back-to-School or Intergenerational Theme
Intergenerational Party – Host an intergenerational back-to-school party with the grandkids of your residents to celebrate the new school year. Set up several crafts tables for residents and their grandkids to make fun back-to-school crafts, like journal decorating or backpack decorating.
Coloring Party – Invite a local elementary school class to join your residents in a fun coloring party. Pass out coloring books for the kids and adults, which can be colored using crayons or colored pencils. Be sure to serve milk and cookies to the participants.
Football Theme
Sunday Tailgate Party – Host a weekly tailgate party for your facility’s football fans before your local NFL team’s game. Coordinate with Dining Services to serve fun football food like nachos or pigs in a blanket. Meanwhile, the article suggests a great activity is to set up a football-themed game for residents to play before the televised game starts, like a football toss game.
Half-Time Show – During half-time of the game, plug in your karaoke player and invite residents to have fun singing a few oldies.
Halloween Theme
As we mentioned, the entire city of Salem is a Halloween theme and we simply get to watch the parade go by our home and enjoy the costumes and enthusiasms brought of the many visitors who come to Salem. However we like these ideas about how to make our home and meal times more festive.
Halloween Party Favors – Recruit your facility’s Beading Club to string beads to make Halloween bracelets that can be given out as party favors to kids during the Halloween season.
Masquerade Dinner – Celebrate Halloween with residents by hosting a fun masquerade dinner in your facility’s Dining Room. Use wood masks that residents can easily decorate with paint and even add foam pieces or sequins.
Mask-Making – Invite the grandchildren for a fun intergenerational project to make Halloween masks with your residents. For the project, pass out colorful markers for participants to fill in the pre-printed masks. Take plenty of pictures of the participants wearing their masks.
Thanksgiving Theme
Our chef at Brookhouse Home always does a nice job putting together a delicious Thanksgiving dinner but we think some of the suggestions here sound like a lot of fun.
Thanksgiving Pie Bake-Off – The article notes that making a few Thanksgiving pies, like sweet potato, pumpkin, and pecan with residents assisting them with rolling out the pie dough to make the delicious pies. Serve the finished pies for your afternoon social, making sure that residents vote for their favorite.
Name That Thanksgiving Spice – Coordinate with Dining Services to swipe a few of their dried Thanksgiving spices (e.g., rosemary, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, clove, pumpkin pie spice) to place into small cups to pass around to see if residents can guess the spice by smell.
Best Thanksgiving Side Dish – Reminisce with residents about their past Thanksgiving dinners as you go around the room asking residents to name their favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Encourage residents to name the ingredients that they used to make their favorite side dish.
Foam Turkeys – Enlist the help of residents to make foam turkeys that can be used as table centerpieces or decoration for your Thanksgiving holiday.
