Poker Walk

Fitness is a big part of any activities calendar in a retirement community. Fitness programs can, and should, appear with many different titles and be held in many different locations, but the main element is that residents get moving!

One of the activities that we have done on an annual basis for the past eight years is called a Poker Walk. It was derived from an annual motorcycle fund raiser event that takes place in our area's greater community. It is a program that is simple to put together and fun for the residents.

First, plan your route for your walkers. Ours is just about a mile long and circles our campus. Then plan where your five stations will be and place a table and chair or two at each location, along with a deck of playing cards and a cooler with small individual bottles of water in in. Large print cards work better if you have them, but it is not necessary.

You will need to create a grid that has a five rows (one for each station) and four columns, one for each type of suite in the deck of cards. (hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds) Make sure there is a place for the resident's name at the top. You will get two grids on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.

The day of your event, you would have a reception table with the grid available for each participant. They "register" by taking the paper and writing their name on the top of it, and then taking it along with them on the walk. We decorate the tables with balloons and/or a card theme. (If you need to have them sign up ahead of time to know how many will attend, do so, but their will be extras joining you when they see what is happening.)

Residents walking are reminded before they leave that this is not a race and are encouraged to enjoy the walk, the sights along the way and the fellowship of their friends and neighbors. When a resident gets to a table, they draw a card and the number (2-10) or letter (J, Q, K or A) is written under the appropriate column. They will repeat this at each table. I will say that it is easier to spread the cards out on the table (if there is not breeze) and let more than one person pick a card at the same time. This helps keep the residents moving and not standing in line for their turn at the table. This is where a second person helps so they can write the results down as the first person manages the card draws. When then get finished with the route, they bring their paper back to the registration table to get reviewed. The best poker hand wins. 

We have a nurse going around on a golf cart to make sure that everyone is alright. If someone is not able to walk the whole thing, she picks them up and takes them to the rest of the tables on the route. Some residents have even gone from the first table to the last table and just drawn all their cards at the last table. We really encourage this to be a walking event, but we do not turn away someone in a scooter or other kind of aid.

Refreshments should be available once the group finishes. Also, in order to allow time to tally the results, you might consider a health fair or some other casual interactive program where the residents can visit at different times (since not everyone will be there at the same time).

p.s. Check out my other articles regarding fitness for seniors by going to the link at the top left labeled Fitness.

Keep 'Em Going!

Holiday Decorations

Have you eaten your Wheaties? Are you ready for the holiday season? I've been out shopping and getting ready to decorate our community for Christmas and Hanukkah. I will have the day off after Thanksgiving, so I will start on Monday.

I was wondering if you, as the activities director of your community, are the responsible person for the decorations. Do you have volunteers, staff members, residents, or an outside company help you?  In my retirement community, the maintenance department does all of our outside lights and they help me get the artificial trees up. This year we will be buying a live tree for our lobby, since it is newly renovated and we thought that it would be a nice change.

I do have managers that like to help also, so they help me decorate the trees. We have a tree in the lobby, as I mentioned, plus one in our casual dining area, one in the auditorium, and one in the main dining room. We also have a card tree where residents tie on their greeting card for the community to see. It makes a pretty tree. I simply put the tree out with lights on it, and then place a hole puncher and sleigh full of pre-cut red ribbons for them to use next to the tree.

Then, of course there are the decorations that jazz up the lobby and auditorium. Those are the special items that I think really make the community feel special and ties the trees into the room. The special Santa that they see each year, the nutcrackers, etc. etc. that set the scene for the room. I enjoy decorating the community more than I do my home these days. Or maybe it is that by the time I've finished at work, I don't have much energy left for home. I'm not sure, but I do know that this is the busiest and greats time of the year.

I hope that you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and that you will enjoy the crazy-ness of the next few weeks as activities director! Take a deep breath and GO GET IT DONE!

Simple Social Suggestion

Ralph Waldo Emerson said "It is not length of life,
but depth of life."

As activities directors for independent living senior adults, this is a quote that I feel could be painted on our office walls! It reminds us of the importance of having a meaningful program for our residents. It would also serve the residents well to see this quote to remind them to live each day to its fullest and with meaning!

I have shared some ideas with you on this blog that are fun, but this time, I want to speak about something that may or may not be considered an "activity" that you can list on your calendar. It may even fall under the culinary department in your community, instead of the activities department, but I'm still going to share it with you because I've seen the success of it at my community. It is simply a time and a place in your community where coffee is available to residents and their guests to have for free. And yes, you as the activities director can and should suggest it!

I can hear some of you already saying this has nothing to do with me, but please take a minute to finish reading this. I promise it won't be long. Part of our job involves the resident's social happiness... and this does meet that need. I can also hear you say that with the budget cuts, that this is out of the question. There is no harm in asking though, is there? And then there are a few of you who think that residents will abuse this free service or that your culinary department will not be able to manage it well. And yes, there will be days when those will be correct thoughts. But overall, it does work. Oh, and the marketing department loves this idea! Now there are people in the lobby when prospective residents come to see our community..... and they can offer them a cup of coffee too.

My community set up a coffee area outside our administration office that serves coffee from 10:00 a.m until 2:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. (Sunday we serve breakfast and then dinner at noon so they have plenty of opportunities for coffee in the same time frame as the other days.) We've made sure there are plenty of seats for those interested in staying for a chat, and the area is usually very busy. Residents are encouraged to bring their own mugs if they want to, but it is not necessary.  Refills are requested when coffee runs low and the culinary department brings it ASAP. Sometimes this is quickly and sometimes there is a wait, but like I said, there are usually people to talk to, so the wait is not that bad.

We have residents who started bring cookies, donughts, etc. to add to the coffee area. We make sure to make a sign that gives credit to the resident for their donation. It makes them feel good for the recognition and others are able to thank them. It also lets the residents know that this is not from our kitchen, in case it is not good, etc.  We haven't had that as an issue before, but just in case. It has even got some residents started on a baking routine that is just amazing! 

I've made this longer than I thought it would be - I'm sorry, but I got excited. Take a look at your community. Where would be a good place for you to initiate this? It might be in your library, like a Barnes and Nobles. Maybe it's in your foyer like the hotels do, or in your dining room that is only used in the evenings? Remember, this is the resident's home and you will be able to find the place that will work for them to sit with their friends, the ones they know and the ones they've yet to meet and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. It truly is simple and yet adds another level to the depth of the days the resident will spend in their community.