19 replies to this topic

[Daisygirl1179]

I have been an activities director now for about a montha and a half. Morninga activities are a blast. I have organized a mixture of programs for all stages. However...

Afternoons are just boring. The residents have a hard time being in the moment. I also dont particularly like my afternoon activities. The first round of activities is physical of some sort. Then the set round is more of a relaxation activity. Do you have any suggests for what works best?

The schedule is lunch at 12, nap at 1, activity 1 at 2:00. snack at 3, and activity 2 at 330. The residents just seem to not recover after the nap.

[christine59]

Daisygirl1179, on Aug 7 2008, 08:05 PM, said:

I have been an activities director now for about a montha and a half. Morninga activities are a blast. I have organized a mixture of programs for all stages. However...

Afternoons are just boring. The residents have a hard time being in the moment. I also dont particularly like my afternoon activities. The first round of activities is physical of some sort. Then the set round is more of a relaxation activity. Do you have any suggests for what works best?

The schedule is lunch at 12, nap at 1, activity 1 at 2:00. snack at 3, and activity 2 at 330. The residents just seem to not recover after the nap.

I am not sure if you are in a SNF or ALF, but if ALF you could consider taking them on an outing, like to a park, mall or just for a cruise around town. If not have you tried games like Bingo, chair volley ball, Price is Right, or scavenger hunt (the hunt will get the staff involved too)?

What about having special events such as a Kentucky Derby (if you call it a horse race it does not seem as exciting). Have them wear something special like a fancy hat or jacket to make it a fancy event. You can use toy or wooden horses lined up at the starting line. You can have them in teams or individually. Have them roll a large dice, then ask a question. If they get it right their horse moves the number of spaces on the dice they rolled. If they miss the question their horse does not move. Before the activity starts set up your race track so all your steps are visible and it keeps it fair. Use a long table to keep the track straight and visible so all can see. The winner receives candy, a sash and flowers. Just like they do at the derby.

Call your local hobby shop to see if there are any remote control clubs that would come out to demo the cars/trucks. If you have a large yard area some can bring their helicopters. Call the local dance studio to see if a dance team will come out to give a performance. Church or school choirs might come to perform because it is like practice for them when they want to try new songs out. Reach out to your surrounding community for free entertainment.

Have a tea social or a mocktail party. Have a card party and invite the local bridge club over to play a round with the residents that know how to play. The residents that don't play bridge can play other card games.

One AD I know has afternoon tea or flavored coffee (decaf of course) and reads to the group from a book called "Older But Wilder" by Effie Leland Wilder. It is about life in a living assist home. She said they love it and ask for more because they laugh so hard...laughter will always wake people up.

If none of the above will work for you, then you need to have a meeting and ask them what they would like to do in the afternoons. As you know, they are not shy about telling you what they like and don't like if you ask them.

Anything can be an activity, you just have to figure out how to put it in action.

Good luck!

Christine

[Daisygirl1179]

I do work at an assisted living residence but we do not have the means for traveling. Most of my residence are in the late stages of alzheimers. The only thing they really respond to is music. However, I do not sing or play an instrument. I can only pay for so many entertainers.

The afternoon programing is also difficult for me because the afternoon is really not my time of day. I am really a morning person and I seem to get a kick of energy in the evening. Its just tough for me.

[mariahcmb85]

Daisygirl1179, on Aug 7 2008, 06:05 PM, said:

I have been an activities director now for about a montha and a half. Morninga activities are a blast. I have organized a mixture of programs for all stages. However...

Afternoons are just boring. The residents have a hard time being in the moment. I also dont particularly like my afternoon activities. The first round of activities is physical of some sort. Then the set round is more of a relaxation activity. Do you have any suggests for what works best?

The schedule is lunch at 12, nap at 1, activity 1 at 2:00. snack at 3, and activity 2 at 330. The residents just seem to not recover after the nap.

[mariahcmb85]

I intern at an Adult Daycare facility...we also have lunch at noon and it lasts for a hour and then right at 1pm we begin a new activity. As a suggestion, maybe beginning an activity right after lunch instead of a nap can help to keep them engaged. Whether we have a less involved activity such as a musician playing for an hour or a more involved activity such as our Senior Olympics we just had...members are still engaged immediatly after lunch. Therefore, a nap may not always be needed after lunch.

[lindsaymarie]

I have had the same problems with activities after lunch, and I realized that if I don't come before they all leave the kitchen, I will lose them to nap time. So I have kitchen activities at 1pm, and then they are engaged enough not to lose interest in subsequent activities. On Mondays we play a matching game, on Tuesdays we have a craft or indoor gardening session, on Wednesdays we have afternoon tea with cookies or cake (on these days I ask the kitchen staff not to send dessert to us--we are in a secured unit--so they'll get it during teatime), on Thursdays we have "table talk" sessions, and on Fridays we sit down with a box of cards and write letters home to friends and relatives about the week's activities, complete with pictures.

Catch 'em before they retreat back to their rooms!

[shilbach]

I am currently an Assistant, however, when we do an activity right after lunch, they are more apt to keep going. We do arts and crafts, Bingo, table ball ( in which you are all seated around a table, place a bunch together if need, and you take a beach ball and throw it to each other without it going off the table) the residents find this a blast and get energized for cards, or the next activity.

[madryer]

What we do between our nap and Snack is I have the residents help me make snack. I got a list of acceptable things I could make and I also pull from a book called "It's in the Bag" which is an awesome resourse that give recipies that you amke in a gallon sized ziplock bag. I think my favorite was the Pumpkin muffins that I put all the ingrediants in the bag made sure it was completely sealed, and then passed it around and let each resident squish to their hearts content. Then you just snip one cornor of the bag and pipe the batter into your muffin tin. The residents loved it because they got to help and the kitchen loved it because they didn't have to provide afternoon snack. A lot of times I ask the more cognitive residents to read me the recipie as I'm mixing the ingrediants.
Or Maybe, just try switching the relaxing and the physical activities, have something simple and calming for them to wake up to, like a sing-a-long for Bingo, and then after snack move into the more active activities after they've had a chance to wake up and have a bite to eat. Hope this helps^^

[rworley]

christine59, on Aug 8 2008, 12:49 AM, said:

I am not sure if you are in a SNF or ALF, but if ALF you could consider taking them on an outing, like to a park, mall or just for a cruise around town. If not have you tried games like Bingo, chair volley ball, Price is Right, or scavenger hunt (the hunt will get the staff involved too)?

What about having special events such as a Kentucky Derby (if you call it a horse race it does not seem as exciting). Have them wear something special like a fancy hat or jacket to make it a fancy event. You can use toy or wooden horses lined up at the starting line. You can have them in teams or individually. Have them roll a large dice, then ask a question. If they get it right their horse moves the number of spaces on the dice they rolled. If they miss the question their horse does not move. Before the activity starts set up your race track so all your steps are visible and it keeps it fair. Use a long table to keep the track straight and visible so all can see. The winner receives candy, a sash and flowers. Just like they do at the derby.

Call your local hobby shop to see if there are any remote control clubs that would come out to demo the cars/trucks. If you have a large yard area some can bring their helicopters. Call the local dance studio to see if a dance team will come out to give a performance. Church or school choirs might come to perform because it is like practice for them when they want to try new songs out. Reach out to your surrounding community for free entertainment.

Have a tea social or a mocktail party. Have a card party and invite the local bridge club over to play a round with the residents that know how to play. The residents that don't play bridge can play other card games.

One AD I know has afternoon tea or flavored coffee (decaf of course) and reads to the group from a book called "Older But Wilder" by Effie Leland Wilder. It is about life in a living assist home. She said they love it and ask for more because they laugh so hard...laughter will always wake people up.

If none of the above will work for you, then you need to have a meeting and ask them what they would like to do in the afternoons. As you know, they are not shy about telling you what they like and don't like if you ask them.

Anything can be an activity, you just have to figure out how to put it in action.

Good luck!

Christine

[rworley]

Daisygirl1179, on Aug 7 2008, 07:05 PM, said:

I have been an activities director now for about a montha and a half. Morninga activities are a blast. I have organized a mixture of programs for all stages. However...

Afternoons are just boring. The residents have a hard time being in the moment. I also dont particularly like my afternoon activities. The first round of activities is physical of some sort. Then the set round is more of a relaxation activity. Do you have any suggests for what works best?

The schedule is lunch at 12, nap at 1, activity 1 at 2:00. snack at 3, and activity 2 at 330. The residents just seem to not recover after the nap.

[rworley]

My residents do the same thing, they aren't in the mood to do anything in the afternoon. The only thing that perks them up is a Birthday party, Resident of the Month party, Memorial service or some celebration. There is one thing they like very much and that is when the clowns come in with ice cream cones in the afternoon. The clown outfits we made and volunteers will be clowns or at times the staff will be clowns. This is inexpensive after your clown outfits are made. One gallon of ice cream serves most of the residents.

[ILoveMyLVN]

Some of my patients will get very excited about sing a long to karaeoke in the afternoons. We have a DVD that will play Karaeoke and the words show up on the screen for patients to read. I have collected about 5 DVDs so far, and our higher functioning patients enjoys picking from them. This can keep them occupied for about 45 minutes. After that it is very hard to engage them in much, especially anything active. They like BINGO and also like listening to musical performance DVDs, expecially classical. Small groups of people will engage in poker for about a half an hour. Patients love the pet therapy that comes from our local animal shelter, but some complain that the bunnies are not interactive. The pet therapy works best for lower functioning. We are an ADHC and after lunch pretty much no matter what we are doing most people are asking to go home. We have a Wii, but no matter how excited I get about enticing them to use it, most people do not like the Wii. I really thought it would work well for afternoons... Phooey!

[awalls1]

Daisygirl1179, on Aug 7 2008, 07:05 PM, said:

I have been an activities director now for about a montha and a half. Morninga activities are a blast. I have organized a mixture of programs for all stages. However...

Afternoons are just boring. The residents have a hard time being in the moment. I also dont particularly like my afternoon activities. The first round of activities is physical of some sort. Then the set round is more of a relaxation activity. Do you have any suggests for what works best?

The schedule is lunch at 12, nap at 1, activity 1 at 2:00. snack at 3, and activity 2 at 330. The residents just seem to not recover after the nap.

[prplepony]

Hi there,
First off...don't be discouraged. You will find your groove. I have a secured Memory Care Unit and currently we have 41 residents with Alzheimer's or other Dementia related diseases. I, too, find the mornings are the best time for my folks. I had to switch things around several times to get a balance for my afternoon programs. We have two separate dining rooms, and one finishes before the other so we are not able to start a program directly after lunch because the second dining room is still eating. {And we all know how hard it can be to get these special folks to eat can be} Lunch is over by 1:00. Our first program starts at 1:30. It's usually a sit down; around the table type activity like Bingo, LCR, crafts, Card-O, Poker Keeno, etc... That way we are already all together. We've only had to round them up once after the noon meal. That activity lasts for one hour. At 2:30 everyday we have some sort of snack such as banana splits, brownies, fresh baked cookies, mini-quiche, etc... Everyone's internal clock is set for 2:30 around here. Those who are in their apartments come out for 2:30! Now we not only have the crowd from the 1:30 activity, we've been joined by the 2:30 munchie bunch! Then at 3:00 we typically have either a mentally stimulating activity {Pictionary, Wheel of Fortune, spelling bee, etc...} or a physical one {bowling, shuffle board, Wii, etc...} Every day ends with exercise {4pm}. It's a great way to get to build up their appetite for dinner {4:45-5:00}. It also helps get rid of any frustrations or if sun downing is starting, it's a great diversion. Mind you, it isn't always perfect everyday for every resident. I just know it works with my wonderful peeps. They exercise twice a day, in fact. Right after breakfast to get energy built up for the morning and then as I said, right before dinner. We always play upbeat music that they boogie down the hallway to on their way to their dining rooms. I sure this helps you in some way! Good luck.
~Tammy

[chartley]

at our facility afternoon programs are usually a craft, game, singalong, holiday something, monthly birthday party, etc. the afternoon programs are when the bigger things happen. though sometimes you really have to be creative, for something new. so maybe one of those ideas will help you! good luck!