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Laura 17th Aug 2020 Activity Co Ordinator
Hi, I'm trying to plan for a inside carnival in our nursing home. i dont have much time, we are planning this for next monday.
menu is sorted for the day already and decorations but now i need game ideas.
Can anyone throw some ideas at me for quick and easy games to do with our residents. as we are nursing, the games need to be very basic.
Apart from throwing balls into a bucket from a chair im absolutely stumped.
thank you.
Leaann 18th Aug 2020 Activity Director
Cornhole
Horse shoes (you can get big plastic ones..we use them in our hallways)
bowling with plastic pins/ball
water balloon toss
put a bunch of suckers in a bowl with some of them "marked", if a resident picks a marked sucker they win a little prize.
Bubble station where they can blow bubbles
Ring toss...they toss large plastic rings onto toilet plungers

Hopefully that helps a little!
Susan 18th Aug 2020 Activity Director
Hi Laura
Here are some ideas
I do hope you are having help because you probably need a leader or a staff member or volunteer for each activity
You can use a deck of playing cards for many things
Guess the card
Who has the highest card
Who can add up the total of all the cards they have
Dice games are all so fun
Who can roll a...,,,

Fortune teller
Write down fortunes on paper then fold the paper up and have the residents pick their fortunes
I make the fortunes related to other activities so they will participate such as you get a free number in bingo or another game that you play

Which hand is it in

Any true and false questions
You can use the ones I am golden Carers or make up your own
https://www.goldencarers.com/search/#stq=True%20or%20false&stp=1

What cup is the P or another object under

Simon says
Here are just a few ideas if you need any further explanation on the games let me know
Lori D 18th Aug 2020 LNHA
duck pond- tub for water, rubber ducks with numbers on bottom. have resident answer a trivia ? or true-false? whatever you like

fishing game- pole with string attached and magnet on the end, items with magnetic strips hooked to them to hook their catch
.
We had some guessing games where we filled up containers and they had to guess the number inside, face painting- liquid soap and paint- wipes off easily due to soap base.

Will try to think of some more we did at our carnival.
Solange 18th Aug 2020 Diversional Therapist
Hi, Laura, You could adapt the Beer Pong by duct taping 5 empty paper cups together. Half fill them with gravel or pebble stones so they don't move. Place the cups in the middle of the table and give each resident 3 ping-pong balls to throw aiming at the cups. Whoever gets any inside the cups is rewarded with a round of applause. Another game is the Chocolate Game; place on a table a bar of chocolate, a hat, gloves, a scarf, and a knife & fork. Sit residents at the table where one by one roll a dice. The first who rolls a six put on the scarf, hat and gloves and try to cut a piece of the chocolate with the knife and fork. Residents will count to 20 (or less depending on their abilities) and if the person cannot cut the game continues until the next person rolls six. The chocolate should be one of those filled with marzipan or coconut (like Bounty) so it is easier to cut. Buy a few because you may have to replace the chocolate as it is eaten.
Susan 18th Aug 2020 Activity Director
Thank you for your input
Lori d and Leanne
I am sure Laurie will be able to use some of these
Laura 18th Aug 2020 Activity Co Ordinator
some fantastic ideas on here. Im going to see what i can realistically organise in time.
we have a little paddling pool and ducks from a summer fete before which i had forgotten about so i will use those again.
thank you all for your help, much appreciated.
love from accross the pond, laura.
Amanda 24th Aug 2020 Activity Director
We had a duck pond, prize wheel (spin and win), toss bean bags at stacked cans, popcorn toss, photo booth with photo props, clown,
Susan 25th Aug 2020 Activity Director
Thank you for your input Amanda
Daniela 25th Aug 2020 Life Style Officer
Hi Laura,
Bean bag toss, cut out pictures of clowns
Susan 26th Aug 2020 Activity Director
Hi Daniela
Thanks for you input
Ashleigh 13th Dec 2020 Wellness & Lifestyle Coordinator
i am thinking of doing this activity of ducks in a swimming pool in our outside courtyard.
we have this at our local show/carnival
where they a floating rubber duck with a loop on top
the residents holds a stick/rod with a hoop. You put numbers on the bottom of the duck, resident has 3 turns. Whoever gets the highest score

where would I buy these Ducks from?

Thank you
Susan 14th Dec 2020 Activity Director
Hi Asheigh
I have done something similar but have not you ducts with the rings on the top
I am not sure what your purpose is other than to have fun
Using a Pole as you describe is not that easy to do or many residents
You could use a magnet similar to what is described in a fishing game

https://www.goldencarers.com/fishing-game/3284/
You probably will need stronger magnets to lift up the docks
However when we played the game we just put numbers on the bottom of the docs and allowed residents to pick three and then let them add up the numbers on the bottom of the ducks
Depending on the group you could put harder numbers to add up or easy ones
After each person has a tear and you can mix up the docs or not depending on the group
This is much faster and you can reminisce about ducks are animals that live in a pond if you need to extend the activity
The ABC’s of any items are always good and easy to do
We got the Ducks at Oriental Trading
I know there are many places to buy ducks of this type but as I said I have not seen the ones that you are describing


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