Mel 0 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 an extra $300 you just found? The AD before me didn't spend all their budget and my administrator said I could spend it on something big. Or I guess on a couple medium sized items. So what would you buy for your department if you had an extra $300 laying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tinki Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 I dont think I would spend my money in one place (but that is me) I would want new games, new books, new craft supplies etc... In the past I wanted a good karoke machine, a good activity cart, and storage bins Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ineedavacation 0 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 Once I had a resident that passed away leave the activities department $500. I threw a family luau. Used the money to buy the decorations and the pina colada mix(virgin of course) and other things to make it fun. It was potluck so the families would bring a dish to pass and we provided the pinapple glazed ham, rice pilaf and pineapple upside down cake. The nice thing is that we carefully folded the decorations back up the way they came out of the packages and we used them again the following year and now again this year they'll use them again. The luau was a blast. We had 2 kiddie pools, one with water and magnetic fishing sets and the other had sand and sea shells that the kids were digging in to find the shells and some residents even took their shoes off and put their feet in the sand! Hula hoop contest and best dressed beach bum contest. We even purchased grass skirts, leis beachcomber hats a eukalali (spelling) and coconut bras and had a corner set up with green plants in the background and grouped each resident and their families together using the above props and took family pictures. A great time was had by all Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanGuy23 2 Report Share Posted June 2, 2007 Hi I would purchase arts and crafts supplies, sensory stimulation items for in-room visits, games, a nice organizational activity cart, and some educational books or videos. I love that annual luau party idea. HOW FUN. Not only are the residents having a blast but your getting families involved too by having them come in and join in the fun. Great idea. Good luck with the party again this year. OceanGuy23/ActivityMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KateAA 0 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 I would invest the money in a die cut machine. For a hundred reasons including community events, fundraising and extremely useful for bulletin boards and signs. Best purchase I have made in years! We have made party favors for our events and have actully raised money by making favors for weddings and parties in the community. We have had scrapbooking crops open to the public and featured our die cut machine. We have crafters and teachers who have used it and we are able to make letters and items for our bulletin boards. It is so versatile and only limited by our imaginations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ineedavacation 0 Report Share Posted June 4, 2007 Speaking of die cut machines....our public library has one and many dies to choose from that the public can use. See if a local school has one and if they would let you go there to borrow it seeing that its for seniors. LOL dont get me started on die cut machines. My senses perked up when I saw that ... I'm an avid scrapbooker and LOVE die cuts!! Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel 0 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Kate, What machine do you have? Is it a big one like what's in the schools? Or a smaller one for like scrapbooking (like sizzix machine). If it's a bigger one where did you get it and how much was it? And how much are new die cuts, and whole alphabets? I have a sizzix machine, because I too am an avid scrapbooker, and am thinking about selling it to buy the cricut. I think the dies for it would be to small for a bulletin board though. That really is a great idea though! As far as the lau, we get a big chunk from a bank every year to do a family event with. So every summer we plan a luau, or a country fair, or something along those lines. That reminds me I need to think about getting a petting zoo here one day this summer...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KateAA 0 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 Mel, It is the Mark3 from Accucut and here is the link; http://www.accucut.com/MARK_III__Accessori...133-p1,133.html? We bought one set of letters (worth the money) and then have been slowly buying dies every few months. One of the things is that if we let people use it we ask that they either buy a die or donate $45.00 for a die. It is great for bulletin boards and party favors. Much bigger dies than the Sizzix (which I have all of them for my scrapbooking addiction) and the machine can be used by the residents. Espcially those always "looking for something to do". They will die cut for hours if I let them. We bought the clear dies as well so that they can be used for our crops at the facility which we open to the public on Saturdays once a month. Scrapbookers can come and crop and residents enjoy doing their scrapbooks and like to make the goody bags for the cropppers. We have gotten a good reputation and often have 15 - 20 croppers on a Saturday. It's free and we have families and friends who come regularly. The residents also like to cut out the letters for the area schools and spend August making "Back to School" packets for our neighborhood school for the teachers. They cut out each month with themed colors (ie Black and Orange for October...etc) and put them in a special envelope for them to use in their classrooms. It has really been a huge asset to activities for those residents who enjoy volunteering and want a "job" Let me know how it works for you. Don't be put off by the price of the dies as there are many ways to start your collection. (Even EBay) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennie 26 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Not knowing what your res. or your dept needs are makes it hard to say what to spend the money on. With that said, I had a fundraiser on a few items that benefited the res & the act dept. We raised money for a Large popcorn machine that was used on a regular basis. I also raised money for a cart, TV & a DVD/VCR combo & used this as small group act, In-servcies & also took it to res. rms. The res. who where bedbound, new or just wanted to watch a movie in private loved this. One of the thngs I also bought was a turn table to play records on. Most of the res. loved to listen to the Big Bands, someone had donated over 100 albums to the act dept & I had no way to play them. This turned into a weekly (sometimes twice a wk) act. The res. loved listening to the songs & reminiscing about them. I also found it handy for soothing res. with dementia, music usually soothes them right off. However I am hearing alot about the rooms that have the Lava Lamps, buble machines etc. i think these would be a great benfit for res, as well as staff & family. So many choices, what a fun thing to do. Let us know what you decide to use the money on. We will be dreaming about all teh stuff we could do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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