Forum Discussion

Word search games - write a long word and see how many other words they can find, chair exercises, card making, start a remember box - craft, work, fashion, baby etc memories.

Bugs is a good game, UNO, chess, checkers, something a bit different is hoy. Indoor bowls, quoits, magnetic darts. Hope this helps.

Hi Kate, have you tried Gardening? Many residents would like to have a plant to look after. Have a garden session and let them plant a succulent cutting is a small pot; very little maintenance and very satisfying, here is the link, https://www.goldencarers.com/activities/Male-Specific/gardening-for-men/ There are also group crosswords; if they find it too easy you may try a Word Game on this link, these are really stimulating games. https://www.goldencarers.com/activities/Trivia/word-game/ Also, try the Thanksgiving Tongue Twister Thttps://www.goldencarers.com/activities/social/thanksgiving-tongue-twistercompetition/ Let me know how you go.

Thank you all for your suggestions - I will give them a go

Hi Kate

I had a similar suitation and commenced a walking group for them. The 4 of them meet each day and go for a short walk they also enjoy a game of pool each week if you have a table available (I access the respite centers)

Elvia
Our clients enjoy Rummy-O [Rummy Cub] as well as dice games.
Each clients gets their own sheet to cross off their numbers.
Everest [or known as Mattwerhorn] 3dice
Printed sheet with two rows of squares numbered from 1-12 and
12-1
Each player in turn throws 3 dice and crosses off any values on their paper in either row and in any order they wish according to the values thrown.A player may use combinations of dice values or the value of a single die but each number rolled may only be used once. For example if a player has rolled 2,3, 5 they may cross off any of the following sets of numbers on their paper -
[a] 2,3,5 or [b] 5, 5 (2+3and 5) or [c] 2, 8 (2 and 5+3) or
[d]3, 7 (3 and 2+5) or [e] 10 (2+3+5)
The player who crosses off all twenty-four numbers first, wins the game.

Hey Kate
Try this white board
write up a huge word and gather residents and put into columns
headed 5 letter words, 4 letter words, three letter words
and ask residents to make words from the one written on the whiteboard
or find some MAZES copy and ask residents to find thier way to home
Mazes are great they require patience, and promote forward thinking
Who and I what am I
write on a white board placed behind the person sitting out front what or who they are
the other resdients can read what the person out front is and have to give the person out front flues so they can solve it
the person out front starts off asking am I animal vegetable or mineral
hope this helps
regards
Linda

I only have eighteen residents but it's not easy to get them out of their rooms. Thanks for all these suggestions. I'm going to try some of these. Of course they almost all like bingo but we do play Rummikube and the Hand and Foot card game but that's limited to a certain number of residents. I have some tabletop games like Belz and cornhole. Thanks again.

Have you tried bunco
It is a simple game that requires no skill but is great for socializing and always a lot of fun
It is easily adaptable to any situation and any number of people
https://www.goldencarers.com/bunco-dice-game-for-seniors/5724/

My favourite game to play with a brainy bunch is a take of the 5 Second Rule they play on Ellen.
You get categories and tell them they have to tell you 3 items in as fast as they can. Time them and write down how long it takes. At the end see who has the fastest time.
Topics can be:
- mountains
-oceans
-beauty supplies
-fruits/veg
The possibilities are endless.
For your more impaired residents you can choose a topic, like colours or names, to make it less challenging for them to also participate.
Happy Playing!

Tarryn
This sounds like a fun game but I know some seniors are slow thinkers
Instead of seeing who has the best time you might have them seeing if they can improve upon their own score
Thank you for sharing the idea and all your work as an Diversional therapist

There is nothing more meaningful to seniors who once were powerful and important than to get that feeling back by offering their help to others. We reached out to a local thrift shop/disaster relief center. They bring us all of the dolls that are donated and we wash them (in the washing machine with softener -- a must) and then spend time combing their hair and beautifying them, dressing them and bagging them for resale or for giving to little ones experiencing crisis. We do this once a month. I also have an "educational" seminar once a month where I've found documentaries (IMAX is good) or brought in hobbiests who talk about their passion. Car enthusiasts are fun because we can walk outside for show and tell later. Doll club members (UFDC) belong to this club because it is a research/education club--they are great to have visit because they also bring objects to show. We also took a walk around our property with a volunteer gardener from a local nursery, he identified the trees, we took pictures and then looked on line to find out more about the trees (together with computer hooked up to tv) and learned quite a bit. Did you know the ornamental pear wood is used to make clarinets?

These are great ideas Linda thank you for sharing

One game our residents like alot is Wheel of Fortune but we can't play it right now due to Coronavirus limitations. But here's how we played. I used a white board and I normally give them a topic such as flowers, Holidays, cars, Boooks of the Bible, people of the Bible, animals....it can be almost anything, local landmarks, etc. I draw blank lines on the board for the number of letters in ther word so say my word is Easter; I would draw 6 lines. Then they guess letters. If they guess a correct letter, I fill it in. If it's not there, like if they guess an L, I say No L...and we move on. As soon as someone can guess the correct word, I erase it and put another one up. Sometimes I mix it up a bit and will mix the letters up so they not only hvae to guess the word Easter but they have to put the letters in order first. So it would appear to them like this first TSEARE instead of EASTER. Just to add a little more thinking to it. They really enjoy this. I havent figured out how to do it during this isolation time cause it's definitely more fun to play with other people.

What a great idea Marcia
Perhaps you could hand out papers with a sept it and blank spaces under the septic name and see what they residents come up with
It won’t be the same but you could call it individual wheel of fortune
You could also hand out papers and call each resident on the phone and have him guess a letter
If he gets the correct letter tell him what space to put it in on his paper
If not have him write it below the spaces in an area that says no
Thus he knows which letter not to guess again
Now call the next person and tell him which letter the previous person guessed and whether it was in the word or not and if it was where in the word it was
Keep calling different residents until the
word is guessed
You could involve family members volunteers and staff members in this as well helping you to call residents
What do you think of this idea??
Thanks again for your input