Marching into Fun

Can you believe it is March already? 2016 is well under way. The question for you today is, "how have you improved the offerings that you present to your community?" I believe that if you are not changing it up, or adding more to the calendar of events, that you are not as successful in your job as you can be - or should be for that matter. 

Being in the field of providing recreational programs is an opportunity to enhance residents' lives. If you are not doing that, it is not fair to those who you serve. There are plenty of resources available to you so that you can be awesome at your job. Today, I will share a few new ideas that I brought to my community this year. 

• Wii Jeopardy and Wii Wheel of Fortune-  I have people who are active Wii bowlers in the community, and I have residents who leave evening programs in order to get home to see Wheel of Fortune and/or Jeopardy on television. So, I found the Wii games on Amazon, and ordered them. I planned the activities at the same time, but different day of the week, as the existing Wii bowling game. I encouraged an audience, since most of us are sure we would never want to show off our lack of knowledge to those around us. 
• The games only permit 3 people to play at a time - just like on the shows, which is another reason to really push the idea of coming to be in the audience. I found both the Jeopardy and the Wheel of Fortune games to be easy to figure out. I stayed with the groups for the first few meetings to get them started, to introduce it to new comers, and to lend support when they needed it. While in the learning phase of this game, I did rotate players, so that more people could learn it. I switched people between regular Jeopardy and double Jeopardy.  The only thing that I would suggest is that for final Jeopardy, that when contestants are making their final wager, that the others turn their back or cover their eyes.... if they want to be truly competitive.  (Mine did not.) I do think that these two new calendar events are going to continue to be well attended and that some of the audience members will be contestants as well. (This has happened already.) 

• Name that Tune - I saw this game being played on a cruise ship that I was on while escorting a group recently. It seemed so simple to put together, and it was fun for me as a participant in the audience. But, I will tell you up front, that this did require more time than I thought it would o put together. There are games on-line that do what I wanted to do, but not with music from the decades that I needed. (The 20's, 30's and 40's!!) 

• I used music that I had and uploaded them to my laptop. You can also use Amazon Prime music or another online music provider, if you have that as an option. I listened to the first 10 - 15 seconds of each song. If the song said the title in it right away, it was not a good song to use. This is what took most of my time.
• I created an answer sheet and provided it to the audience members who wanted to participate. I had groups and individuals play, so the room was set up with tables as well as rows of chairs. I had mostly groups and it worked out well.
• I played the music through my auditorium sound system and "hammed it up" in between songs. I found that I need an adapter to take sound from the laptop to the microphone jack on the stage. It is not expensive and I've used it many times already. 

• 4 Pictures 1 Word - This is another game that I saw on board the ship. Just like above, it is run from your computer. There are on line games where you can get ideas from, but I have not found one that I could simply show on the screen in the Auditorium in the manner that I want to have. So, this will be (haven't finished it yet) done on PowerPoint and played using the same answer sheet from the Name that Tune game. If you are not comfortable with creating Power Point presentations, here is a link to the PowerPoint for Dummies book.  

• Coloring for Adults is all the rage right now. (Here is a good article about the benefits of adult coloring from CNN.) Some of our residents are already aware of this and are coloring on their own. I decided to add it to my calendar and see what the response was. I invited residents who were currently coloring to attend with their supplies and those who are not coloring, to attend and use my supplies. I will have this in one of our lounge areas, where it is quiet, calm and more home-like then in our activity rooms that are in our club house. I will also provide outdoor seating if the day allows for it, since this lounge faces one of our lakes. There will also be soft background music available if the participants want to hear it. 

I hope you will come back to my blog again soon to read about the results of the last two programs that I mentioned above. I also encourage you to comment below with a program or two that you have added or enhanced recently, so that we can all learn from each other. You may also leave comments on my Facebook page, Recharging Retirees, or on my Twitter page, Ideas4Seniors.

Loving my Job

It is the month of love and today I ask you, do you love your job like you use to? After being in the field of recreation with seniors for almost 30 years, I can still say yes. But, let's be truthful, I won't say that I would say yes every day of the year.

Here are some of the reasons that I still love my job. I hope that by sharing these with you that you will take the time to consider your situation and find that you have similar reasons to be glad you are an activities director.

• The appreciation of the residents
• The diversity of the day's tasks
• The experiences I've had that I might not have had otherwise
• Traveling
• Restaurants
• Cultural experiences
• Reasons to dress up, get in costumes
• etc
• Learning life lesson from worldly residents
• Does and don'ts for a good marriage
• How to treat your elderly parents
• How to be a classy woman
• The value of faith
• Strength in difficult times
• etc.
• Professional growing opportunities through a great company
• The opportunity to bring happiness to the residents and their families

Happy Valentine's Day to you! I hope that as you decorate your community you will stop and smell the roses around you and find that love is in the air. 

Do's For Your Dance

During December my community hosts its annual holiday gala dance. It is a semi-formal event with high-end appetizers and a first-class dinner. Every year we try to raise the bar on this special night. After working with my company for the past 18 years, it is a challenge to keep it fresh and exciting, but the evening always seems to be very well received.

With those years of experience come a few lessons that I have learned. You may not host a gala dance, but I think you will still find these points helpful in your job as activities director.

• Promote the date of your event well in advance so that residents have time to plan their evening (outfit, guests, table seating arrangements)
• Book a special musical talent for this night. This should not be someone your community uses on a regular basis. 
• At the same time, you should develop a good working relationship with the performers so that in case they must cancel on you at the last minute, they will work hard to find a replacement for themselves that is as good, as or better than they are for you.
• Make sure the musicians understand the group's ability to stay on the dance floor is not as long as those of people half their age.
• Remind the musician that most of the audience will not be dancing because they do not have a partner. Ask them to include line dances or a song or two that audience members can do from their chairs.
• Hire dance hosts for the single ladies who want to dance. 
• Decorations do not have to be elaborate, unless you want them to be. Sometimes simple and understated can be viewed as classy. 
• If your dance is after dinner, you will not need much more food - but you must have something. A little salty and a little sweet. 
• You will never please all the people at a dance with the temperature of the room. Dancers will want it colder and those listening to the music will want it warmer.
• Create a special feeling with the lighting in the room. Dim the lights like at a dance club
• Just like at the parties that you go to, there needs to be a fun person that gets things started. Be that person or find someone else who will be!
• Make a personal connection by going from table to table and sit down. "How are you enjoying the party?" is a good opener or "I haven't had a minute to talk with you lately, how are you?" Residents love to have the personal contact that only you can offer.
  

Key Ingredients for Successful Holidays

Take time before the full craziness of the holiday schedule begins to get yourself prepared

Have a plan for the next few months, but be flexible enough to change them

Adjust your attitude from overwhelmed to “I can do this,” and see the opportunities for enhancing 

your resident’s lives

Note your community’s traditions for the upcoming holidays, but find new and exciting ways to 

freshen them up.

Keep your volunteers happy and get help from them and from co-workers when you are overwhelmed… and there will be days, no matter how prepared you are

Fill your life outside of work with people who you enjoy being with. Do fun stuff for yourself! Don’t stop planning when it comes to your leisure needs.

Understand that you will never please all the people all of the time. Do your best every day and have no regrets when you walk out of your community at the end of the day

Live, love, laugh, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

 

Scared to Say Yes?

October can be scary! Not because of the ghosts and goblins that might be coming to your community to trick or treat, but because of requests from your residents who live there, when they ask you to try something out of your comfort zone. (And yes, this can happen any time of the year!)

A resident recently came to me to ask if I'd organize an outing to a local Oktoberfest. I shared my concerns for the group's safety on this trip because of the footing at the fairgrounds, the rowdiness of the crowd, and the ability to track down missing residents if they do not return to the bus at the scheduled time. My "final" decision was, no, I would not be organizing the trip for her.

After a few days, the resident came back to me and said that she would do all the research about the trip for me and bring it to me for another look. In addition to all her research, I also knew well enough that she was talking the trip up to her friends in the community so that the trip would be successful if I said yes and offered it to the community. 

As much as I know that my concerns are legitimate, it is my job to figure out a way to be able to say yes to the resident's request. After seeing the information that the resident brought to me, talking it over with her while I had a more open mind, and knowing that she and her husband had attended this festival in the past, I have agreed to organize the outing. I will be sure to promote it with a note that says "good walkers welcome" or something to that affect so that residents who may have mobility issues will be fair warned.

If there is something that you are being asked to do and you want to say no to it, dig deep into yourself, get the facts and look at as an opportunity to grow. I'm looking forward to taking the group to the Oktoberfest and I know that they will have a great time there.

3 Styles of Scavenger Hunts

Boy is it hot outside! If you are like me you may still be looking for indoor activities that are fun for your residents to do. This activity that I will share with you can be done for different levels of care in your retirement community. I encourage you to share it with the other activity professionals that work in those other areas within your own community.

The activity is the Scavenge Hunt. This can be done in three different ways and I will describe them below:

1)      The Stay Seated Scavenger Hunt

v  Ask audience to bring in items they think will be asked for. Encourage them to fill their purses, pockets, bags, etc. and bring it to the event

v  Make a list of items that they could bring with them

v  Include items that would be funny, that might have a story to go with them, or that people would be surprised someone would actually have. (Green Stamps anyone?)

v  See the list I used

v  Cut the list into pieces and place them into a basket

v  Ask people to draw the item out of the basket. (This gets more people involved, even if they never have an item on your list, they are participating…..)

v  Use the resident’s names as often as possible.

v  Teams can be seated at a table or divide your auditorium or meeting room into sections

v  After reading the item out loud, give people time to find the item – but not much time. Keep it moving!

v  Count all the items and record them. I had an assistant help with this buy using a dry erase board.

v  Prizes or no prizes…. It’s up to you.

2)      The Semi-Seated Scavenger Hunt

v  Same as above, but have each team bring the item back to the team’s table, which is at the front of the room

v  You can do this with a captain who gets it from his team, or do not have a captain and each person brings their own item up to the table

v  Make sure that all the items are returned after the program is over

3)      A Serious Scavenger Hunt

v  Look around your community and make a list of items that are unique to your community

v  Include items on the list that are specific so that there is no confusion

v  Gather the participants and give them the list of items that you want them to find

v  Give participants a deadline to return the items to you

v  This event can be done over a few days, or in a few hours

v  Bringing back the items can mean taking a picture of them on your smart phone or tablet (with or without the resident in the photo with it), a note on the list of where they located the item, or asking them to return a sticker that is next to the item on the list. 

v  Make the prize something special so that people are more serious about playing the game independently.

v  This game can be played individually or as a team

v  Items can be inside or outside.

Here are a few websites that have Scavenger Hunt ideas that take you beyond what I’ve used with seniors before:

http://www.recreationtherapy.com/tx/txhunt.htm

http://www.diva-girl-parties-and-stuff.com/scavenger-hunts.html

http://icebreakerideas.com/mall-scavenger-hunt-lists-ideas/

And here are some books from Amazon:

200 Ideas for Scavenger Hunts

40 Incredible Scavenger Hunts that Really Work

52 Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Scam Education Made Easy

From time to time the issue of resident's being scammed rears its ugly head in our community. The issue is brought to our administration usually by a brave resident or two. What usually happens after we see a pattern or increase in frequency is that the administration office sends out a memo reminding people not to fall into the current trap that was reported.

As Activities Director at the community, I think this is an opportunity for an activity. It is not necessarily a fun activity, but one that would educate the community about the current trends in scamming, and more importantly, how to avoid becoming a victim. 

First you should understand why residents living in alone, in continuing care communities, assisted livings and nursing homes are prime targets for scammers. Take a look at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) website. It addresses telemarketing fraud along with other types of scams that our resident's fall victim to. If you prefer to watch a documentary from Dan Rather about the scale of fraud against seniors, this is worthwhile. Many victims of fraud will not speak up because of the fear of embarrassment, or possibly losing the ability to get the "big prize."  After reading about the many ways fraud takes advantage of seniors and watching this video, you will see that it is very important to provide the programming necessary to help our residents avoid these evils.

In my area we were able to find a group of local seniors who presented skits on frauds affecting seniors. It was great because the audience could see the interaction between the scammer and the victim and put themselves in the victim’s position. It was done with humor, so it was fun, in a way. Here is an article about another group that does this kind of show about seniors and scams.  

If you don't have a group around your community that can perform an educational skit for your audience, you have some other options. The first is that you, the staff of the community or the residents might want to put on a skit. It would be a learning experience for those producing it as well as for those watching the final production.  The other option or educating your community might be found on the Stop Fraud website that the government sponsors. There you will find lots of resources with contact information for national and state-specific sites that might provide you with speakers who will come to your community.

Based upon my experience in working with senior adults, this is a subject that you can present to your community a few times a year. I suggest that you put a new spin on it each time, with a new speaker or with a skit, to assure the residents continue to come to the program. I believe that residents can't hear about this enough. Also, encourage those who attend to bring someone else with them. A victim may be reluctant to attend for fear that she might be recognized as a victim.