Creative Program Ideas April 2016

Transcription

1 Creative Program Ideas April 2016 April's birth flower is the daisy which conveys innocence, loyal love, and purity. It is also a flower given between friends to keep a secret; the daisy means I'll never tell. The other April flower is the sweet pea. Sweet peas signify blissful pleasure, but are also used to say good-bye. April is: American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month: Set up a fundraiser for your local animal shelter or the national ASPCA. Or have a dog food, bed pad drive to donate. Community Spirit Days/ Arbor Day: Invite the community to your facility to plant flowers and other plants in and around your facility. Defeat Diabetes Month: Have a speaker come in from your local American Diabetes Organization though this web site Frog Month: Clay Pot frog: Match your Styrofoam eyes to the size of the pot, use acrylic paint and Felt for feet Humor Month : o Hang flowers with jokes writen on them throughout your building o Encourage staff in participating in a crazy dress day

2 o Have a Red Nose Day o Sing Silly Songs o International Guitar Month: Search out a Guitar class and invite them to give a recital at your home. Jazz Appreciation Month: Play, Listen and discuss the different versions of Jazz Keep America Beautiful: Many of our elders will remember when this first began and can me a great reminiscing session. It can then be incorporated into the Community/Arbor Day celebration National Card and Letter Writing Month: Provide/ Make cards and encourage participants to write to someone. National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month: Discuss and come up with the ultimate Grilled Cheese. Then, make them for the residents, make them and sell as a fund raiser or ask your dietary department to put the on the menu as Your Facility s Ultimate Grilled Cheese National Garden Month / National Landscape Architecture Month: Make a fairy garden! These are very popular now. You can make on big one for the facility and/or smaller one for each participant. You can find so many ideas on Pinterest. Just search fairy gardens National Kite Month: Make, Buy and Fly! National Licorice Month: Licorice comes in all kinds of flavors now. How about hosting a Licorice tasting? Straw Hat Month: Have a straw hat decorating contest for staff and/or residents. Provide prizes for prettiest, silliest, and most unique. Stress Awareness Month: This is a great opportunity to have someone come in to talk about stress management with your staff! Many hospitals, Employee Assistance Programs and even hospices have great speakers. Daily and Weekly 01 American Crossword Puzzle Days: 1-3: Make your own crossword puzzles at 01 April Fools or All Fools Day: 02 National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day: How long has it been since your residents have had a simple Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich? If you want to be a little more

3 creative have them make peanut butter & jelly cookies, 2 peanut butter cookies with jelly in between. 03 Fan Dance Day: There are some beautiful videos on YouTube to show the residents or watch them to inspire yourself, have the residents make their own fans then guide them through your own version of this dance, 04 is National Florida Tomato Month: Have a happy hour featuring- Florida Fresh Tomato Sunshine Mary Instructions Yields: 6 Servings Ingredients 6 large ripe Florida tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced 2 teaspoons hot sauce, (optional) 2 teaspoons fresh horseradish (optional) 1 teaspoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon seafood boil Seasoning (Cajun seasoning will do) 2 teaspoons celery salt 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper Preparation In a blender, combine all ingredients until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning to preference. Pour sunshine Mary mix into a food storage container or pitcher, cover and chill. 05 National Deep Dish Pizza Day 05 Read A Road Map Day: Get a map of the U.S. and let the residents talk about the trips they have taken or would like to take. Search Free printable road maps and print out special places the resident mentioned and have them cut out heart shapes from the map and laminate them. 06 Hostess Twinkie Day: Make your own Twinkie Cake: Provide the residents with the items ready to assemble, a Twinkie, vanilla pudding pre-made works well) choices of pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and whipped topping. Cut Twinkie in half, layer pudding, layer fruit, layer whipped topping and enjoy, 06 National Walking Day: Encourage the staff to take the residents outside for a walk, even if it s just around your parking lot. The residents will love it. Even better make it

4 a group event incorporating all the departments and have a boom box with uplifting music playing. 07 National Beer Day: Have a beer tasting if possible if not make beer bread: 3 cups of self rising flour, one bottle of beer, stir, throw into a loaf pan and bake 1 hour at Draw A Bird Day: There is a beautiful story that you can share with your residentsof how this day came about at then have the them draw their own birds and submit pictures to the website. 09 National Cherish An Antique Day: Let the residents share and brag about one of their Cherished possessions. 10 National Farm Animals Day: Invite your local petting zoo to visit 10 National Sibling Day: Reminisce about siblings as children, Write a letter or card to a sibling. 11 Barbershop Quartet Day: YouTube Barbershop Quartets. Have a group come in. 12 Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day: Work with your Dietary Dept. to provide Not Your Everyday Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and have a tasting. Find some great recipes at 13 Scrabble Day: 14 Dictionary Day: Great day for word games or use scrabble pieces for a craft project like this: 14 National Pecan Day: Butter Pecan Cookies Recipe Ingredients 3/4 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup sugar, plus more for coating 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour Directions 1 Preheat oven to 350. On a baking sheet, toast pecans until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Let cool completely; finely chop. 2 With an electric mixer, cream butter for about a minute. Add 1/3 cup sugar and cream until light, about 1 minute more. Beat in vanilla, salt, and flour, scraping down sides of bowl, just until dough comes together. Fold in pecans. 3 Separate dough into 12 pieces; squeeze dough to shape into balls. Roll in sugar. Place, 3 inches apart, on a baking sheet. 4 Gently flatten with the bottom of a glass (reshape sides if necessary). Sprinkle with sugar. 5 Bake until golden brown, rotating sheet halfway through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with more sugar. Cool cookies on a wire rack. 15 Income Tax Pay Day: Provide a free poor boy sandwich lunch for staff 16 National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day: It s a radical idea but how much fun could this be. Encourage your staff to wear their favorite Jammies to work.

5 National Karaoke Week: Celebrate all week with each day dedicated to eras of music or styles of music such as swing, jazz, rock and roll, folk, easy listening,. 17 Ellis Island Family History Day: This is a wonderful topic of discussion and writing family stories can be such blessings to your residents families. There are lots of sites that help track family histories 18 National Golf Day: Set up a miniature golf course. For a tunnel, cut out the bottom of an empty oatmeal box, and place the box on its side. Decorate a shoe box upside down and cut out an entrance from one end, and the exit from the other end.fold a piece of cardboard in half and set it up like a tent for the ball to go through. Place cups, plants or cones on the floor to form a curved fairway for the ball to go through. Be creative! 19 National Hanging Out Day: Give the residents a chance to just hang out. Set up tables with magazines, puzzles, coloring/painting pages, ect. Provide drinks and snacks. 20 Chinese Language Day: Get residents name in Chinese and more at 21 Queen's Birthday: The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June. Have an English tea party in honor of the day. There is a video on YouTube that has great ideas search how to host an English Tea Afternoon. For more information on the Queen and English traditions go to 22 Mother Earth Day: Celebrate the day by planting a tree in tribute to all or the residents in your facility, get a small plaque to put at the base with the dedication and date. Get the residents involved with choosing the type of tree to plant. 23 Talk Like Shakespeare Day: For tips and guides to planning an fun ideas go to 24 Celebrate Spring: Make paper toilet roll Daisies. Cut Paint Bend Glue 25 License Plates Day: There are lots of great sites and books to find Vanity Plate Guessing games. 25 Sense of Smell Day: bring in spices, flowers, and other scents for residents to enjoy. 26 Audubon Day: Do some bird watching with binoculars, build bird houses, plant humming bird bushes. National Pretzel Day: Make pretzels with different toppings/dips Make them from scratch, get the frozen to bake fresh or if you re lucky enough to have a fresh pretzel company use them. Have toppings or dips such as cinnamon sugar, caramel, dill dip,..

6 27 Babe Ruth Day: Play Dice Baseball: and serve Baby Ruth s 28 Maryland became a state 1788: 29 International Dance Day: Watch a dance video or just move to the music 29 "Peace" Rose Day: Peace roses are inexpensive and beautiful. Plant around your facility 30 Louisanna became a state 1812: 30 National Herb Day: Start an herb garden for your dietary department and your department