August 2023 Weekly-Themed Activity Calendar

Week of July 30 | Week of August 6 | Week of August 13 | Week of August 20 | Week of August 27

Let's Color! Week

(Week of July 30)

Crafts: Marker Jars

Celebrate National Coloring Book Day this week by providing fun activities that allow your residents to tap into their creativity while coloring. As a craft, gather Mason jars and paint for your residents to create marker jars to hold all the markers and colored pencils that will be used this week. To make the jars, first add primer to the jars. Once the primer is dry, encourage residents to add a fun paint color to each jar. Next, use pencil to create fun faces on the jar before filling in with paint. Finally, seal the jars by spraying on a clear sealant. Fill the jars with colorful pens, markers, and pencils to use throughout the week for your activities.

Reminiscing: Children's Artwork

Reminisce with residents about what they used to do with all the children's coloring projects and artwork that their children brought home from school. Afterwards, share a list of fun ways to showcase the artwork, as well as a few ways to repurpose the art.

Physical: Color Balloon Toss

Inflate several different colored balloons with helium to play a fun color balloon toss game with residents. For the activity, use weights to weigh down the balloons in the backyard. Then assign a different point value to each colored balloon. To play, provide each resident with a Hula Hoop to toss to see how many points they can accumulate by tossing the hoop around the balloons.

One-on-One: Colored Shavings Art

Assist your resident with using a pencil sharpener to create shavings from your colored pencils to use as pencil shavings art. First use the sharpener to create a variety of shavings from your colored pencils. Then brainstorm a design on paper using the shavings. Next, use glue to attach the shavings onto paper. Finally, use the colored pencils to draw a drawing around the shavings to create interesting art.

Lower-Functioning: Crayon Abstract Art

Supply residents with canvases and crayons for residents to create abstract art by simply scribbling on the canvases. Play fun music in the background to inspire residents as they use different colors to create artwork that can be displayed.

Bedside: Coloring-by-Number

Print out a color-by-number coloring page for your resident to complete. Supply her with the appropriate colored pencils for coloring. (Another color-by-number coloring page)

Outing: Coloring in the Park

Take residents on a fun trip to the park, where they can use sketch pads and colored pencils to sketch the images that they see in the park.

Sensory Stimulation: Colorful Cookies

Invite residents to bake a batch of colorful funfetti cookies to serve at the upcoming Color and Sip Party. Use rainbow sprinkles for the festive cookies.

Men's: Coloring En Plein Air

Provide the men with paper on the back patio tables to sketch outdoors using oil pastels. Encourage the men to sketch what they see in the backyard.

Special Event: Color and Sip Party

Host a fun color and sip party for residents. Pass out colored pencils, markers, and crayons for residents to fill in adult coloring pages. During the activity, serve champagne mimosas (or substitute with sparkling apple cider), along with the funfetti cookies made earlier during the Sensory activity. (Please note that National Coloring Book Day is Wednesday, August 2.)

Celebrating Animals Week

(Week of August 6)

Crafts: Bunnies

Recognize International Cat Day, World Lion Day, and World Elephant Day this week by providing residents with a week of activities that relate to animals. Begin the week by showing residents how to craft pom-pom bunnies using yarn, tacky glue, and felt.

Reminiscing: Bears

Reminisce with residents about their past camping trips and whether they ever encountered any animals, like bears and snakes. Afterwards, share a few funny camping stories with residents, as well as a few pictures of wildlife encounters while camping.

Physical: Horses

Set out a stuffed horse for residents to practice their lassoing skills. For the activity, attach a long rope to a Hula Hoop and have residents toss the hoop to try to lasso the animal.

One-on-One: Leopards

Invite your resident to help you bake a batch of leopard print bread by adding food coloring to the bread dough.

Lower-Functioning: Birds

Assist residents with mixing suet cakes for your neighborhood birds. For the activity, simply mix birdseed, vegetable shortening (or bacon grease), and peanut butter. Allow the cakes to set in a muffin pan for thirty minutes before freezing for a few hours. Once frozen, pop out the cakes and set them near the birdfeeders around your facility.

Bedside: Pandas

Encourage your resident to help you make a few sets of adorable animal socks for her grandchildren by using needle and thread and attaching fabric ears to children's socks. Afterwards, use a permanent marker to draw a face on each sock.

Outing: Squirrels

Take residents on a fun drive around your facility to see the squirrels and other animals along the trip. Provide each resident with a neighborhood animal sheet to mark whenever they spot an animal along the ride that is on their sheet.

Sensory Stimulation: Cats

Grab a few cat silicone molds for residents to bake kitty cat bread. Once the bread has been baked, use food writers to add a face with whiskers on each kitty cat.

Men's: Elephants

Show the men how to make colorful watercolor elephants. To make the art, first print out an elephant outline onto heavy cardstock and cut out the elephant's body to create a stencil. Then place the stencil on top of white cardstock that has been cut to 4-inches by 6-inches, and have the men fill in the stencil with colorful watercolors. Once the paint has dried, encourage the men to turn the cards over to address as postcards to send to their loved ones.

Special Event: Zebras

Host a fun animal Pictionary game for residents, in which teams of residents draw zebras and other animals for their teammates to guess. Start off the rounds with easy-to-draw animals. Then as the game progresses, give each team animals that are a bit harder to draw. (On the website, adjust the difficulty of the generated words in the bottom left corner of the page.) (Please note that International Cat Day is Tuesday, August 8, World Lion Day is Thursday, August 10, and World Elephant Day is Saturday, August 12.)

Beach Crafts Week

(Week of August 13)

Crafts: Luminaries

Enjoy this beach season with residents by scheduling fun beach-themed crafts this week for residents to try. Start the week by showing residents how to create striped beach luminaries that can be placed on your facility's back patio tables as illumination for the evenings. Use glass jars, painter's tape, paint, sponge brushes, burlap, twine, sand, seashells, and battery-operated tea lights for the craft.

Reminiscing: Driftwood

Reminisce with residents about their favorite beach activities. Afterwards, ask residents whether any of them ever collected driftwood to use for future projects. Then show residents how easy it is to turn a small piece of driftwood into beach art using white paint pens. Display the finished fish throughout your facility for the week.

Physical: Beach Balls

Play a fun game of beach ball toss up with residents. To play, seat residents in a large circle, and have them hit a beach ball back and forth in the air without letting it touch the floor. After a few minutes, introduce a second beach ball to see if residents can keep both balls from falling to the floor.

One-on-One: Sea Creatures

Tap into your resident's creativity as the two of you use seashells and air-dry clay to create fun sea creatures. To make the sea creatures, first look at the seashells to brainstorm a possible sea creature to create. Then mold air-dry clay into the desired shape and paint. Finally, add the seashell to the sea creature's body to display.

Lower-Functioning: Sand Dollars

Pass out paper plates for residents to glue dried white beans onto the plates to create paper plate sand dollars.

Bedside: Fish

Assist your resident with using small pieces of driftwood or even small sticks from the yard to create a fish. To make the fish, simply cut out a fish shape from cardboard, and use hot glue to begin attaching the sticks. Hang the finished fish in your resident's room for the season.

Outing: Beach Ride

Take residents on a trip to a local beach, lake, or pond to view the scenery and the surrounding wildlife.

Sensory Stimulation: Sand Clay

Make a batch of sand clay for residents to play a fun game of sand Pictionary. To play, announce an object, and award a point to the first person who successfully molds their clay into the object.

Men's: Boats

Teach the men how to create watercolor boats by using oil pastels to create an ocean scene onto construction paper, and cutting out and adding construction paper boats to their picture. Encourage the men to frame the finished artwork for the season.

Special Event: Sandcastles

Invite residents to compete in a fun sandcastle competition. For the activity, cover the tables on your back patio with tablecloths or trash bags, and divide residents into teams – one team per table. Then supply each team with a mound of sand, cups of water, and buckets to see which team can create the best sandcastle. Recruit a few of your facility's administrators to pick the winning sandcastle.

Hawaiian Games Week

(Week of August 20)

Crafts: Hawaiian Grass Skirts

Pay tribute to the anniversary of Hawaii's statehood on August 21st by supplying residents with fun Hawaiian-themed games to play throughout the week. Invite residents to play a fun game of Hula Skirt Relay, but before playing, invite residents to assemble the "grass" skirts. To make the skirts, supply residents with brown paper bags to cut and secure with tape. Staple additional bags to make the skirts wider, if necessary.

Reminiscing: Hawaiian Dream Vacations

Reminisce with residents about their past dream vacations, and whether any of them has ever been to Hawaii. Afterwards, share a list of the top dream destinations to see if your residents have ever wanted to travel to those locations.

Physical: Hawaiian Skirt Relay

Use the "grass" skirts made earlier during the Crafts activity for a fun relay for residents. To play, divide residents into teams, and have all the teams line up on one side of the room. On the other side of the room, provide a "grass" skirt, a coconut bra (made from cutting brown felt in a bra shape and adding Velcro dots to fasten), a flower for the hair, and a lei on each of the team's tables. (Another option is to have residents put on a Hawaiian shirt in place of the coconut bra.) When ready, have the first person from each team go to their table to put on the grass skirt, felt coconut bra, and lei over their clothes, and place the flower in their hair. Then have them pose to take a picture. Next, have them take off the items before returning to their team and tagging the next person to go to the table to get dressed for their Hawaiian picture. Award a fun prize to the first team whose members have completed the relay.

One-on-One: Hawaiian Checkers

Challenge your resident to a game of Hawaiian checkers, Konane. For the game, use the game board and lots of white and black pebbles.

Lower-Functioning: Hawaiian Sand

Supply residents with trays of sand with several items buried in the sand to see who can find their buried items (e.g., marble, paper clip, button, bead, etc.) first.

Bedside: Hawaiian Ring Toss

Bring your ring toss game to your resident's room for her to play a fun game of Lei Ring Toss. Beforehand, use tissue paper and twine to make a quick paper lei to see if your resident can toss it around the peg.

Outing: Hawaiian Hula Hooping

Take residents on a trip to the local park for a fun "hoop 'til you drop" activity for residents. For the activity, have two residents compete to see who can Hula Hoop the longest. Invite the winners from each pair to compete against the other winners. Continue pairing the winners against one another until there is only one winner left.

Sensory Stimulation: Hawaiian Drinks

Provide a variety of nonalcoholic Hawaiian drinks for residents to sample to see if they can identify the juices and ingredients in the drinks.

Men's: Hawaiian Bowling

Host a fun game of coconut bowling for the men using real coconuts as the bowling ball. Simply set up your facility's bowling pins for the men to try to knock down using the coconut.

Special Event: Hawaiian Sunset BBQ

Coordinate with Dining Services to serve a tasty Hawaiian barbecue for residents in your Dining Room. After the barbecue, pass out ALOHA bingo cards to play a fun game of Aloha bingo with your residents. (To create the bingo cards, simply replace the B-I-N-G-O at the top of your bingo cards with A-L-O-H-A.) (Please note that the anniversary of Hawaii's statehood is Monday, August 21.)

State Fair Week

(Week of August 27)

Crafts: Prizes

Recognize this state fair time of the year by hosting a fun week of state fair activities in your facility. Start things off by having residents assemble the stuffed animal prizes that you can give out to the winners of your carnival games. For the activity, show residents how to make no-sew sock bunnies. Use socks, pink pom-poms, googly eyes, rice, and ribbon for the craft.

Reminiscing: Carnival Rides

Reminisce with residents about the past state fairs that they have attended. Share a list of fun carnival rides to see if your residents have ridden them.

Physical: Balloons

Set up a fun balloon dart game in the backyard for residents to play by safely tossing darts to pop balloons.

One-on-One: Funnel Cake

Recruit your resident to assist you with making a batch of baked funnel cakes for residents to sample.

Lower-Functioning: Games

Line up several cups on a long table, and have residents bounce ping pong balls on the table to see if they bounce into the cups.

Bedside: Caramel Apples

Whip up a batch of mini caramel apples for your resident to try.

Outing: People-Watching

Take your residents to a local carnival, where residents can people-watch and see all the rides from your bus. Encourage residents to reminisce about the state fairs that they have visited.

Sensory Stimulation: Donuts

Use twine to hang donuts for residents to try to eat without using their hands and without letting their donut fall to the floor.

Men's: Contests

Fill an inflatable kiddie pool with water and rubber duckies, and place chairs around the perimeter for the men to try to catch the ducks in a fun contest. Give the men nets to catch as many ducks as they can in three attempts.

Special Event: Food

Coordinate with Dining Services to provide a fun lunch for residents featuring state fair food, like oven-fried pickles and apple cider doughnuts.