kevinm 2 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 I would have never started it, but Residents when I came here have been getting money for bingo prizes. I have not had much success changing this. Costs me about 25-30 bucks a week. Admin says NO MORE! (comes outta petty cash ya know, others wanna use that $$... hehe I was snaggin it b4 them) Anyway, I need ideas, stuff that I can get that'll get their minds off of that cash!! And won't cost me too much. I'm sure you all have been down this road, gimmie some pointers, especially when presenting this change to resident council........ Wish me luck! Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingsfan 0 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Hello kevin Try bingo bucks alot of AD's use them. It's play money and you will need to set up a store for them to purshase items from the store. I work in a snf and our residents shop every friday. Hope that helps Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsabo 0 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Kevin, I shop at the Dollar Store for my bingo prizes. My staff passes out to the residents that won a game " Bingo tickets".Then they can come and shop at the "store". In the store we have candy, pop, jewlery, popcorn, hats, socks, snacks, after shave, perfume, make-up...ect. I try to get items that they aren't offered in the Nursing Home. Things we take for granted. I also ask resident council any items they want or need for ideas. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StacieO 0 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 We've done "grab bag" bingo - they don't know what'll be in the bag, but it can be a treat, a dollar store item, banana, change for the candy cart, stamps for letters, etc. That's a fun one to do every once-in-a while. We also order items from Oriental Trading Co. for prizes, as well. But I do understand, once in a pattern for prizes, it's sure hard to switch! When I started here, the prize for bingo was basically candy (sugar free was available), it took almost a year to slowly intergrate in new prizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hope 0 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 We have 2 "unchangeable" weekly bingos-one in which we get a roll of quarters from Petty Cash (comes out of our Act. budget)and we divide the quarters according to how many are present, and quit when they are gone-quarter per bingo, two games of straight; one game of 4 corners, so everyone goes back with at least one quarter, and the cover-all game that pays $1. The other bingo is Little Debbies, life savers, fruits, small items that we find a good buy on, like multi-packs of lip balm, combs, or donated things, such as a $1 10-pack of pocket tissues we open up , so each prize only costs a dime, but they love their tissues! That runs around $15 a week. When we have our monthly "big" bingos, one is Residents' Rights, the other is when the Senior Center comes in, the 4-corners' prize is worth a dollar, and the other prizes are mini candy bars or the assorted cart. (Senior Bingo comes out of Marketing). Whenever we ask for suggestions, we go out and get $1 bottles of lotions, powder, shampoo that they ask for, but they always snatch up the $1 boxes of tissues first! I would like to try bingo bucks, but one night, when we didn't get the quarters because the office wasn't available, I gave the tokens-little plastic doves- and wrote down their names and how many they won. The next day when I gave out the quarters, one-third had lost their dove, another third forgot all about it, and the other third was waiting! I keep finding bingo chips in chairs, clothing, in their drawers- how do they keep their tokens long enough to save up to "buy" things in a "store"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tinki Report Share Posted June 13, 2005 I have tried it all Bingo Bucks - to much work, I thought, plus the residents had a hard time keeping up with them. Money - too costly Dollar Store prizes - Too cheap looking - plus it feel it takes to much time and effort to get all that stuff! Lastly - I just started give small stuff like a mini candy bar (or sugar free), cokes for the coke machine, and bags of chips. They could choose! Switching on the resident will cause and uproar - but they will get over it. Something is better than nothing I think! Karen :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 In our SNF we have bingo two times per week- Fruit Bingo (all fruit prizes obtained from dietary) and grand prize bingo which is a cart full of the standard bingo items i.e. small candy bars, 'costume' jewlery, beanie babies, seasonal decorative items. I have the habit of publishing a department wish list quarterly which lists items we need for group programming as well as bingo prize items. This has worked great for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bhitchcock Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Hey! Since our residents love Bingo, we have to do it even when it puts us ADs to sleep. We had been awarding nice prizes donated by family members, but our residents got really greedy. They started arguing and complaining and I decided to go a different route. I have decided to try the "Rolling Store" and award points for winnings they can cash in on at the end of the month. This seems to be something that they are looking forward to. To furnish our store, we are having a Bingo-a-thon in July. Each resident will raise money by getting pledges for number of games played. We will play Bingo during the 8 hour day. We can usually play 9 games in 30 minutes. Do the math. That's 18 games in a hour. 18 games x 6 hours=$108.00 That's big money, I know. Some families could not do that, but some would do it just to have their family member win. However at $.25 a game X 18=$4.50 x 6 hours of play time = $27.00. If 20 residents pledge $27.00, we could raise $540. Not bad for a day of Bingo and our store is furnished for a while! I'll let you know how it works! Thanks, Bonnie :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crysty 0 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Well right now we switch up, we use vienna sausages, 3 musketeers etc... for the first round and after you have won once you get "play" money to bank up unitl we play resident auction at the end of the month. (where there are bigger and better prizes) That way it encourages attendance so that whoever goes to bingo will have more money at the auction than the others. Incentive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinm 2 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Thanks guys for all the suggestions... I have done the "bingo bucks" thing before, but had a problem, someone went to the store and got their own supply! ended up stamping ea one so we knew they were legit...geeze! Went to giving out tickets off of a roll... Did the bingo store thing, and was going great till one resident offered more tickets for a particular stuffed animal and it turned into a bingo auction! Actually was quite fun. But that was THOSE residents... mine here are too greedy to play along with an auction... Think I will go with the tickets/store thing. Actually today was resident council ummmm...excuse me...... "neighborhood association meeting" (gotta be culturally correct) and it was presented to them and got a favorable response..wooo hooo! Now we shall see once the REAL players who don't attend the meetings take it.. We got lot's of stuffed animals just donated, lap robes galore, will get case of snacks in the bags from cosco/sams, pastries, pens, pencils our arts n crafts, greeting cards, etc etc. Maybe even some ciggs for our smokers.. offer a free outing to a local resturant by entering their tickets in a giveaway... Oh I hope this works I got a tough crowd....lol Thanks again, Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 we use snacks and quarters. They love the snack grab bag. We fill it with cokes, pudding, cookies, chips....junk food. I try to get snacks that diabetics and special diets can have too. So far its been a hit here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Report Share Posted April 26, 2006 Well we use the Dollar Store for our prizes. I saw someone say the items at the Dollar Store are cheap looking...I don't know what Dollar Store you shop at, but the Dollar Store and the .99 Cent Store in the BAy Area has NICE stuff and not cheap looking. They have brand name items too. For our BINGO plays have to win 3 times at regular BINGO and then they get a prize and if they get Blackout they get a prize. We keep a tally on who wins and how many times and once they hit 3 times we start cashing them out. Our elders like picture frames, shower gel, purfume, sockes, purses. For the men we get socks, shaving gel, shower items. The majority of our participants live in their own homes so we also get dishes, plates, cups, bowls that have decoration on them. The onea that live in SNF's or Board in Cares like the shower gels and picture frames. We also have a BigLOts too that I go to sometimes to look for inexpensive items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Report Share Posted April 29, 2006 Residents at my ALF have the choice of a mini candy bar or a "punch". The punch is a punch on a file card which has their name on it....after 10 punches they get a scratch-off lottery ticket. They cost a buck each.......I keep them in a file box alphabetically...VERY easy! Also once a week we play "extreme" bingo which is the four cornors, x's, postage stamp etc. These games take longer....so fewer prizes handed out! :-D Hope this is helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest crystal Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 We use to give quarters for bingo too but got costly. However they still have quarters once amonth but a group of ladies from the church comes and plays with them and they provide them. For about the last 3 years we have been giving tickets when you when you also get one for attending. we play other games throughout the month where hey get tickets also. i have a box with everybodys name in it and i file their tickets in their envelope after each game at the end of the month we have a auction I usually spend about 40 dollars are use donated items items are much nicer than regular bingo prizes. My resident usually try to compete with each other to see you can get the most tickets for the month. after the auction what tickets they do not use are no longer any good we start fresh every month. This works great at our facility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valenzuela 0 Report Share Posted October 28, 2008 I have tried it allBingo Bucks - to much work, I thought, plus the residents had a hard time keeping up with them. Money - too costly Dollar Store prizes - Too cheap looking - plus it feel it takes to much time and effort to get all that stuff! Lastly - I just started give small stuff like a mini candy bar (or sugar free), cokes for the coke machine, and bags of chips. They could choose! Switching on the resident will cause and uproar - but they will get over it. Something is better than nothing I think! Karen :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinm 2 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2008 Ahhhh Bingo Prizes.. Always an issue no matter where I have worked. Have it down now, no complaints even from those quarter winners.. I have a Bingo Store once a week. I stock it with everything from Lap robes , bags for wc/walkers, stuffed animals, all donated, as well as an assortment of lotions, combs, brushes, puzzle books like word searches, suduko etc. again most donated, and gotta have the Little Debbies, each box you have 8/10/12 "prizes" to give away. Little Debbies have sugar free stuff as well. Generic sodas, diet and reg (2-12 packs for $4.00-5.00), cheese crackers, snack size candies, snack packs of chips etc. And yes! the dollar store stuff is great! all those little figurines, hair stuff, nail polish, BACKSCRATCHERS!!.. the flowers, picture frames all that stuff, my folks LOVE!EM more choose from this stuff than from the sweet stuff believe it or not.... I assign a "price" to the items, ie. a soda is 1 point (one win in bingo) little debbie swiss roll 1 point, 3 snack size snickers 1 point, etc. lap robes are 4 points, full size lotions, 4 points. Had some brand new watches donated once, they were 12 points..more expensive items more points.. Most of the dollar store stuff I sell for 4 points or better. I have had some save up for a particular item they wanted for two weeks or more! Lets face it.. what are they going to really use the quarters for? snack from the machine? soda? and thats about it, till they lose em somewhere...especially in a snf where there is limited opportunity for them to go out and really "shop", this is a winner! None of this stuff is expensive and again, GET DONATIONS! ask staff/family/vendors/ to pick up just 1 pack of little debbie, or sack of candy when they hit the store next. Come on... they are only $1.50 or less, just imagine if every staff member did that just once a week or so, you would be buried in snacks.. (don't forget the after halloween sales for candy! stock up and freeze!) How this all works, Points are recorded on a form by the bingo caller, Residents get 1 point per win on reg bingo, cover all is 2 points. We keep all the bingo sheets together, add them up weekly, and ea residents total is given to them and open the store. They all come at once, so we go by amount of points ea one has as to who chooses first. One week it's from most to least, next, from least to most. Many don't spend all their points, just get a soda and a twinky, save em up in their "Bank".. IMPORTANT! Word of warning....Do not keep the other residents who do not play bingo out of the loop with this Bingo store.. Offer other ways to win "bingo points" Trivia, horse races, card games, etc. You can and will believe me have some put off residents if they cannot "win" and get the stuff in the store too. It will be very popular. And maybe encourage a few to become involved in some way to win points too.. Oh and staff? each point is = to 50 cents, they can buy from your store too, help pay for the stuff! Hope this helps! Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessed1 0 Report Share Posted October 30, 2008 We have prize bingo on sundays (when I'm not there) and fridays, we have cash bingo. It's play money we made with the administrator's (owner) face on the 1 and his wife (our head nurse) on the 5. Bingos are worth $3. Blackouts are worth $5. 2nd win (on a day) is $1, and continue playing until you ave a new winner. Everyone who participates but does not win gets $1. Each resident has a legal envelope with their name on it. It's their wallet. I keep all the wallets and take them to bingo and our shopping trips. The store money ratio is 3 bingo dollar = 1 US dollar. So dollar store items cost the residents 3 bingo dollars. Residents are also able to use US currency. The administrator says the staff are welecome to shop at any other store. We stock it with dollar store items and costco snacks. I also have a retail licence so am able to get some nicer items at wholesale prices. And that's what we do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philco 0 Report Share Posted November 3, 2008 I made up fake money (called it Crazy Currency) I use that instead of real money and they can use it at the Country store for things we sell and give out as prizes. Rebekah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenwalker53 0 Report Share Posted December 3, 2008 i give the women costume jewlery and i give the men cologne, shaving cream, ect. the women are easier to get things for, we usually order from walmart and kohls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbaraharrell 0 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 I would have never started it, but Residents when I came here have been getting money for bingo prizes. I have not had much success changing this. Costs me about 25-30 bucks a week. Admin says NO MORE! (comes outta petty cash ya know, others wanna use that $$... hehe I was snaggin it b4 them) Anyway, I need ideas, stuff that I can get that'll get their minds off of that cash!! And won't cost me too much. I'm sure you all have been down this road, gimmie some pointers, especially when presenting this change to resident council........ Wish me luck! Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSleepie2 0 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 In our facility, we tried all that Dollar Store stuff, also cracker, candy bars, etc. They hated it. So I went for nickel a card, they could play as many card as they had money for, per game. If more than one person called Bingo we would divide the pot with how many won. They like that money a whole lot better. An sometimes the pots get to be quite alot of nickels in. Then on the cover all, I played for ten cent a card. We play one hour, 4 times a week. I have a great turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle 0 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 I guess we are fortunate here at our facility. Bingo was in place long before I arrived and that was the one thing I was informed that I could not change. We play for money during our 4-5 bingo games weekly. Regular bingo is 30 cents, picture frame is 50 cents and coverall is one dollar. We pay out 4.20 for each day we play. Multiple winners in a round, split the prize. We do other things for special bingo games. We are a private facility and the bingo prize money is just included in the annual budget for activities. I would not choose to pay for all the bingo games but this is one thing the admin wanted to remain the same. Actually, I guess turned into a good thing for me because I do not have to fight that fight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leonalawhead 0 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 My Assisted Living residents get jokes for their bingo prize. Everyone gets a good laugh and sometimes it stimulates discussion. That's when I get to see their individuality. I tried prizes of candy, cookies, pencils etc but some residents ate their candy or cookie and claimed they never got any...that's what they believed! Working with different levels of abilities is challenging but everyone loves a joke. Transitioning to jokes from prizes was relatively easy. I told them that we play so many games (5 days a week for 1-1 1/2 hrs. ) that I couldn't afford it and the important thing was to keep our brains working. They agreed and we have fun. Now the Independent residents are another story. They play bingo for quarters-their own. They play quarter per car, per game. After collecting all the quarters for the game, one is taken and put in a special pot for the blackout game. They control the money and all I have to do is call the numbers. Thank goodness they play only once a week for 2 hours straight...my mind and mouth go numb after awhile but they have a good time! Ha ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yunakitty 2 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Ahhh...the people who win candy, eat it, and then whine 10 minutes later that they never get any...that's why I let them leave their wrappers right by the card. I point that out to them, and they stop whining. For at least 10 minutes anyway. I personally give out candy. Two pieces per win. Hershey's kisses, mini Reese's cups, peppermints, etc. I have to keep sugar free things too because I've got a couple of diabetics. Because the sugar free stuff is so expensive, I probably spend about $20 a month just for bingo candy. But we do play 1 hour 4 days a week, so it adds up. The killer is this one former resident who now lives in IL (she was here for short term rehab in July) comes over to play, and if she wins, she says "Everybody gets a piece!" I have a hard time telling her no (she's really pushy) so I end up giving away a ton of candy. Sigh. I haven't had many complaints about the candy. I've been the only director of this activity program since the place opened two years ago, so fortunately I'm not stepping in some one else's shoes. I should also point out I'm talking about Assisted Living and Skilled bingo. Independent Living has bingo once a week, and they pay to play, and win money back. My bingo is free (my residents don't keep money anyway.) I've only had whiny suggestions from private sitters. See, our place is pretty posh - all the residents are very wealthy - and a lot of them have private sitters paid for by the family. They crowd up the game...and not always to help their client play...but that's another gripe. Anyway, one was saying I needed to have Dollar General prizes...corporate would NOT let me do something like that. I can hear them now "It's not Marsh's Edge quality." Our residents have everything they need; almost all have active family that come to visit and bring toiletries, etc, or even in some cases I've bought a specific thing a resident wanted while out, and accounting billed it back to them. So they have no need for lotions and tissues. That's great in places where the residents would go without otherwise. I almost wish sometimes that I did have residents who were more needy - it's hard to give them anything they would want. So I stick to the candy. Everybody loves candy, as long as it's good quality candy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chartley 0 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 bingo prizes bingo prizes. well kevin, im still not sure what the fascination with bingo is but the residents love it. at our facility we give out fun size candy bars mostly. but sometimes we will give out a craft that we made earlier in the month or a volunteer will bring in jewerly they made so we give that out. but the biggest challenge is the change to something new. what i suggest is just explaining it to them. most residents will understand and some will complain. but just say this is what we are changing bingo prizes to and this way it will be more fun you wont know what your prize will be. who knows they may like it better they may not. trial and error will tell. but good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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