gina

Hi All, What happened to our chat nights? I know that Miguel has had problems with his computer so he has not been online latley. :-( But if anyone is interested in chatting,meet in the chat room on Tuesday night @9:00 pm est (6:00 in Ca.). I would love to chat. :-P gina

:hammer: Hi All, I hope everyone is doing well. I have a question for all of you that read this site, it has been a hot topic on another site. How many of you are certified through NCCAP? If you are, what do you believe to be the benifits?If not,why? If you are not,How many of you are certified(certificate) through your state? Thanks for your input on this subject. :-D Have fun !!!!gina P.S.-Oh yeah,what state are you in?

Hi Goofy Gal, I think that you are doing all you can to show them that you are interested,just keep in touch with the Director/Administrator. Maybe make up a sample calendar to show them.(?) If it's meant to be you will get the job,if not, no worries,you'll find one. As far as the lil pictures under your name, click on your own name and you will be directed to your profile,then on the right side of the page it will say avitars,click that and you can choose your pictures. Have Fun !! gina :-)

Hi Mary, Thanks for the info.!!!! I am working at a senior community with very active residents and I think that this is something that would be great for my"Red Hot Mommas"(I think thats gonna be our chapter name) any way,once again Thanks! ((((HUG)))) gina :-)

Hi Mary, :-D I went to your link but I didnt find anything that said posters... What am I looking for?I am very interested in getting some posters for our "Senior Cinema" nights. Thanks for the info. :-) Have fun !! gina

Hi All, :hammer: I have a question.. Has anyone heard of the "Red Hat Society"? I have been hearing alot of good,fun things about it. Does anyone out there have one in their facility? I am thinking of starting a group at my facility,what are some of the things you do with your Red Hat society group? Please,if anyone has info let me know.... gina :-D

Hi Louise, I too remember when there were no computers and I used to have to type(oh,my gosh!)my calendar up and cut and paste clip art on my calendars and newsletters... Do you remember when the creative forcasting magizene was only a few pages long each month?lol . Do you remember when there was no MDS? Gosh,we have come so far since those times,eh? Well, it was fun to reminise with ya... and Welcome to the site !! :-) gina

Hi Debra, Have you tried the Virginia Association of Activity Professionals? Try going on their website and getting phone numbers of the board members and make some calls.Go to:http://vaaponline.org/ Or try the West Virginia Theraputic Recreation Association-www.wvtra.recreationtherapy.com// Maybe these can help.... :-) gina

Hi Darlene, I totally agree with you that if your receptionist is sitting and reading magizenes,she probably has time to sort and pass the mail. :-P But,in all the facililties I've worked at the Activity department has always done this task, along with many other tasks that aren't really "activity related"lol! but what we do to turn this into our advantage is sit and talk for 10-15 minutes with our residents that we bring mail to and it then can be used for a room visit (if that resident happens to be on our room visit program).So try to turn a negative into a positive!!! :-) Have fun! gina

Hi All, With so many of us having a limited budget, I think these Birdhouses are great!!! You will need: 1 empty, clean milk carton(1/2 gallon size)for each resident paints popsicle sticks glue small wooden dowel birdseed wire hanger Directions: Cut openings on each side of the milk carton. Paint the milk cartons and let dry.Then glue the popsicle sticks on top of the milk carton like shingles,one by one.paint if you like.let dry.For the perch,make a small hole under the openings and slip a wooden dowel through the hole. Open up the wire hanger and slip through the top of the milkcarton so that you can hang your birdhouse up. Fill the bottom of the birdhouse with birdseed and put out in a nice spot for your residents to watch the birds. :-D gina

Hi Pennie, Thanks for the great info! Are the f-tags the same on the MDS in Texas as they are in Calif.,Or do they vary from state to state? Just wondering..... :-D gina

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a great Mother's Day... I was just at my local $.99 cent store and found a bunch of "old classic" DVD movies like Doris Day,Gary Cooper and Rock Hudson,on sale this week. Needless to say, I snatched up a few ! LOL If any of you have Movie nights or take DVDs into the residents rooms for room visits,these movies are great for that, also great for bingo prizes(99 cents,wow!) I know that the ladies love to watch movies with the "Hunks" of their time. Have Fun! gina

Hi Jbird1151, I've had a few Luau Parties and these ideas have worked for me,give them a try... Decorations: Put a little bit of sand in the middle of each table and add some seashells on top of the sand. Hang fishnets from the ceilings or doorways. Put inflatable palm trees all around the room. If having your party outside,use tiki torches. String lights all around the room. Place suntan oil bottles around for decorations. Put watermelons,bananas,coconuts,pineapples all around the tables for decorations. Activities: Hula Lessons-Rent a video of Hula Lessons,or arrange for someone to teach to your residents. Limbo Stick- Have a limbo contest with the staff or families of your residents. Karaoke contest-Get Don Ho's "Tiny Bubbles" and other hawaiian themed songs to sing to. Coconut Bowling-Get a couple of coconuts and some cans and have a bowling game. Have a Treasure Hunt-Place "treasures" in a pile of sand and have residents dig threw the sand for hidden treasures. Food: BBQ pork,chicken,beef Pineapple rice Coconut Cake Fruit Salad(in a hallowed out Watermelon) Fruity Drinks(with small umbrellas) Go to http://www.hisurf.com/hawaiian/names.html This site can tell you your residents names in Hawaiian,then you can make up name tags for your residents before the big Luau Party....... I hope these ideas help.. 8-) Gina (Kina in Hawaiian)

Hi All, I recently came across a free newsletter from Eldersong Publications, we all know that they have great books and resources for Activity Professionals,but now they also offer a free monthly newletter. All you have to do is go to www.Eldersong.com and put in your email address. Happy Activities! ;-) gina

Hi All, This is a great game to do variations of,examples: 1) Pizza Making- Get a piece of posterboard or cardboard and cut into a circle(like a pizza) then have your residents start looking for stuff to make a pizza-cheese,tomato sauce,pepperonies,sausage,onions,etc,then have them paste the items onto the circle for their pizza-then if budget allows order a real pizza for a reward. 2) Let's Bake a Cake-The same idea,look for items for a cake-flour,sugar,baking powder,frosting,sprinkles etc.... 3) Things you would find at the beach-shells,waves,suntan oil,people in bathing suits,etc 4) Things you would find in a classroom-apples,eraser,chalk,ruler,books,etc ;-) Gina

Hi Stacy :-) , I too have always used the residents names and birthdays in my newsletters and I have never had any problems with the state surveyors or with Hipaa privacy rules. I have copies of the US Health and Human Services most commonly asked questions(its about 50 pages long! :-? )and I went through it too as you did on the site and it states that alot of the questions that are asked regarding privacy issues are "professional judgements and interpetations" of the answers given. Also for the most part, the privacy act pertains to "medical information,accounting,treatments,etc." and a residents name and birthday are not really " medical information"( but again thats up to each persons interpetation),But on the first page of the Hippa website it states that "Hippa may mean different things to different people".So,basically I haven't helped you a bit lol !! Well,maybe Penny or someone else on the site has been in this situation too and can help u out. ;-) gina

Photo Frames made from CD cases: You will need: Empty CD cases scissors glue crafts stuff(ribbon,buttons,fake flowers,shells,beads,sequins,etc.) Directions: Open your CD case and take out the paper inserts and the molded plastic piece into which the CD itself fits. Cut your photo to just smaller than the box.You will be fitting it into the back of the box with the hinged edge at the top,so about 4 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches high is perfect.Fix the photo against the plastic with a few drops of glue.Let dry. Now all you need to do is draw a line of glue on the outside edges of the front of the CD box and start decorating.Use whatever your residents would like to use,like shells,small pom poms,flowers,beads,whatever... I made one with sequins all around it and it looked great! Have fun! ;-) gina

Poll:

Hi Heavenstar :-) I just read your post and thought maybe you would try one of these ideas- Why don't you have a baseball game with the kids( If you have room outside). Divide the kids up and have them play a game of baseball outside and let the residents watch,and then after have a BBQ and do something easy like hotdogs. Or have a Talent show- divide your residents with groups of the kids and give them a half an hour to come up with something to do for the show.Then have them all do their thing and serve refreshments after. Or have a Spelling Bee - divide the residents up with the kids into two groups and have each group take a turn at a word,if they dont get the correct spelling then they are out.The last group with the most people in it wins.Have Fun! ;-) gina

:-) Hi Stacy, I recently came across a site called Crazythoughts.com and it has a"funny list of lifes unanswered questions" that might be useful to you in writing your newsletter for fillers.I thought the site was great,I wrote down some of them to use myself. Check it out...... ;-) gina

Hi Mary, I have tried this activity too,though I put the fishes in a large metal tub(like the old washing tubs) and put water in it so that the fish float and look pretty real. The men and women love it! Good Idea! ;-) gina

Hey Pat, What happened? I thought you were hired as the A.A.for dementia/Alzheimers unit? The job you described has nothing to do with activities... Email me or meet me in the chat room tomarrow morning,okay? gina :-)

Yeah!!! :-)

Hi All! I just wanted to post a couple of great book titles for anyone that works with Alzheimers residents.These books are wonderful and full of great ideas and info. :-) gina Alzheimers activities:Hundreds of activities for men and women with A.D. and other related disorders. By B.J.Fitzray $22.00 Keeping busy: A handbook of activities for persons w/dementia. By James R.Dowling $16.95 Failure- free activities for the alzheimers patient:A guidebook for caregivers and families. Carmel Sheridan $40.00 If you can get one or all of these books,they are invaluable if you work with A.D.residents. :-) gina

Hi All, I was asked recently in an e-mail about memory carts for Alzhiemers Residents so I thought I would put it on the board so everyone can take a look and maybe put some other ideas on the site too. :-) Sharing is Caring..... Memory Cart / Room Visit Cart: A cart with wheels construction paper scissors glue sticks crayons large buttons with shoelaces(to lace to the buttons) different color,sizes of buttons(to sort by color and size) zippers(to open or close) different types of materials(felt,silk,sandpaper,cotton balls,foil.etc)tactile/touch coloring pages/pictures magazines(for scrapbooks) bibles(bible study or to pray w/res.) scented lotions(for hand/arm massage) c.ds and c.d player(music or sing along) poker chips(to sort) baby clothes(to fold) washcloths/handtowels(to fold) plastic bag w/ cherrios,fruit loops(to sort out and eat!) make up(to put on ladies) facial creams(for facials) socks(to sort) yarn(to wind up in a ball) paper and pens(to write letters) nail polish(pretty nails) fake flowers and vase(to arrange flowers) Any or all of these items make it eaiser to have a meaningful room visit or small group visit.Just Have Fun with your residents :-) gina