August 2022 Weekly-Themed Activity Calendar

Week of July 31 | Week of August 7 | Week of August 14 | Week of August 21 | Week of August 28

Famous American Artists Week

(Week of July 31)

Crafts: Norman Rockwell of New York City

Celebrate this American Artist Appreciation Month by providing fun activities for your residents throughout the week that recognize a variety of American artists. Start the week by teaching residents about American artist and illustrator Norman Rockwell. As a craft, encourage residents to be inspired by popular figurines that are based on Rockwell's illustrations to help them as they use clay to mold their own fun figurines.

Reminiscing: Grandma Moses of Greenwich, New York

Reminisce with residents about the hobbies that they began later in life in recognition of Grandma Moses and her start as a painter at age 78. Ask residents to discuss the new hobbies that they have started recently.

Physical: Jackson Pollock of Cody, Wyoming

Have fun with residents as they get a great workout by tossing water balloons filled with paint to mimic the drip and splash style of American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock. For the activity, set up canvases outdoors in the grass. Then have residents toss balloons, filled with a little water and lots of paint, at their canvases to see what abstract art they can create.

One-on-One: Alma Thomas of Columbus, Georgia

Share the art of African-American abstract artist Alma Thomas with your resident as you teach her how to replicate Thomas' original 1966 painting Resurrection using wine corks and paint.

Lower-Functioning: Georgia O'Keeffe of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Draw large flowers on paper for residents to fill in with paint to resemble the beautiful flower art of American modernist Georgia O'Keeffe.

Bedside: Edward Hopper of Nyack, New York

Assist your resident with creating a drawing that is inspired by the works of American realism painter Edward Hopper. (Tutorial)

Outing: Mary Cassatt of Allegheny City, Pennsylvania

Take residents on a trip to a local waterway (e.g., beach, lake). While outside (or from the bus if residents can view the water from the bus), pass out colored pencils and sketch pads for residents to sketch their own artwork of the water, as inspired by Mary Cassatt and her famous Boating Party painting from 1893.

Sensory Stimulation: Helen Frankenthaler of New York City

Recruit residents to help you bake and decorate a batch of abstract art cookies that resemble the abstract artwork done by American abstract expressionist Helen Frankenthaler.

Men's: George Catlin of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

Encourage the men to use paint to create paintings of Native Americans that resemble the three-quarter portraits of American artist George Catlin.

Special Event: Andy Warhol of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Turn your Activity Room into a fun art studio to celebrate pop artist Andy Warhol. At each seat, place an Andy Warhol coloring page for residents to fill in with oil pastels, watercolors, colored pencils, or crayons. Since Warhol enjoyed using color in his artwork, be sure to encourage residents to use lots of color in their art. Ahead of time, coordinate with Dining Services to serve a variety of colorful desserts for residents to sample during the activity. (Please note that August is American Artist Appreciation Month.)

Summer Visits With the Grandchildren Week

(Week of August 7)

Crafts: Create Art

Encourage the grandchildren to spend part of their summer visiting with your residents by hosting a fun week full of intergenerational activities that residents can do with their grandkids. Begin the week by pairing residents with kids to make mini beaches for the season using paper plates, paint, air-dry clay, drink umbrellas, paper, crayons, blue food coloring, and sand.

Reminiscing: Bake Cookies

Reminisce with residents about their favorite cookies to bake as you pass out aprons for residents and kids to make sugar cookies using cookie cutters. Make a batch for the upcoming Visit a Fire Station activity.

Physical: Go on a Scavenger Hunt

Pass out scavenger hunt bags so that residents and their grandchildren can collect items during a fun scavenger hunt in your backyard. Simply attach the scavenger hunt sheets to brown paper bags, and have the kids run to get the items as residents help point and walk with them.

One-on-One: Host a Tea Party

Recruit your resident to help you set up a fun tea party for residents and their grandchildren by making jam sandwich cookies for the event.

Lower-Functioning: Serve Lemonade

Invite the grandchildren to help you and your residents juice lemons to sell lemonade to visitors in your facility to raise money for activity supplies.

Bedside: Make a Birdfeeder

Persuade your resident to make a few pine cone birdfeeders with her grandchild that can be hung outside of her window so that she can see the birds. Use pine cones, peanut butter, and birdseed for the project.

Outing: Visit a Fire Station

Organize a trip for residents to meet their grandchildren at the local fire station for a fun tour and visit with the firemen. Bring along the cookies that were made during the Reminiscing activity.

Sensory Stimulation: Build Sandcastles

Cover the backyard patio tables with trash bags before placing a mound of sand on each table for residents and children to make fun sandcastles using water and pails.

Men's: Make Ice Cream

Teach the men how to exercise with their grandchildren while making ice cream at the same time. For the ice cream, use half-and-half, sugar, kosher salt, vanilla extract, and plastic bags. Be sure to seal the bigger bag with duct tape so that the men and the kids can toss the ice cream back and forth without fear of the bag ripping open.

Special Event: Organize a Game Night

Set up several gaming tables in your Activity Room featuring fun games that residents can play with their grandchildren, like a Candy Land board game, Dominoes, Uno, and Go Fish.

Paying Tribute to Our Seniors Week

(Week of August 14)

Crafts: Senior Hobbies

Spend the week before World Senior Citizens Day (August 21) featuring fun senior-themed activities for your residents. Start the week by showcasing a fun senior hobby of weaving by teaching residents how to circle weave. Use colorful yarn, cardboard circles, scissors, and beads for the project.

Reminiscing: Senior Moment

Reminisce with residents about their past senior moments as you pass around funny senior cartoons.

Physical: Senior Olympics

Host a fun senior Olympics in your Activity Room. Set up fun activities, like a javelin throw (pool noodle toss), discus throw (fabric Frisbee toss), and archery (Velcro dart throw).

One-on-One: Senior Memories

Encourage your resident to allow you to record her while asking questions about her life. With your resident's permission, send the recording to her loved ones.

Lower-Functioning: Senior Agility

Invite your residents to keep their fingers agile as you have them pull off petals from flowers to make homemade potpourri.

Bedside: Senior Skills

Help improve your resident's skills in speaking "Millennial" as you teach him a few phrases of millennial lingo.

Outing: Senior Discounts

Take residents on a fun outing to take advantage of senior discounts in your area, like at the local bowling alley, coffee shop, or restaurant.

Sensory Stimulation: Senior Smell

Organize a smell testing for residents to identify foods while blindfolded.

Men's: Senior Prank

Persuade the men to participate in a fun senior prank of filling your facility's Administrator's office with hanging balloons. Recruit volunteers to help you and the men blow up the balloons and add ribbon to hang in the Administrator's office. Once the prank has been revealed, ask volunteers to use some of those balloons to hang and decorate the rooms of your facility's bedridden.

Special Event: Senior Prom

Schedule an entertainer to play music for your residents during a fun Senior Prom in your Activity Room to cap off the week. Encourage residents to dress up for the fun event, and recruit volunteers to help make corsages and boutonnieres for the prom's participants using flowers from your facility's garden. (Please note that World Senior Citizens Day is Sunday, August 21.)

All-Expenses-Paid Trip to Hawaii Week

(Week of August 21)

Crafts: Palekoki (Grass Skirt)

Take residents on a fun "trip" to Hawaii during this week of its statehood (August 21, 1959) by providing fun Hawaiian-themed activities. As a craft, provide residents with plastic tablecloths to make Hawaiian skirts to wear for the upcoming Hula Dancing activity. (Skirts can also be made from paper grocery bags.)

Reminiscing: Huali Lā Wela (Sunshine)

Reminisce with residents about the sunny places, like Hawaii, that they have visited over the years. Afterwards, see if residents can guess the top 10 sunniest cities in the country.

Physical: Hula Hula (Hula Dancing)

Pass out the grass skirts that were made during the Crafts activity for residents to wear as you teach them how to hula dance to Hawaiian music.

One-on-One: Hala Kahiki (Pineapple)

Assist your resident with creating pineapple centerpieces for your Dining Room tables using Mod Podge, pineapples, and confetti.

Lower-Functioning: Malasadas (Malasadas Donuts)

Coordinate with Dining Services to prepare Portuguese donuts called malasadas, which are popular in Hawaii, for your residents to sample.

Bedside: Lei (Lei)

Recruit your resident to make a cupcake liner lei to wear. Use small and large cupcake liners, twine, and straws to assemble the lei.

Outing: Kope (Coffee)

Take residents on a trip to your local coffee shop to enjoy one of Hawaii's best exports: coffee.

Sensory Stimulation: Ānuenues (Rainbows)

Recognize all the beautiful rainbows in Hawaii by inviting residents to bake a batch of rainbow bread. For the activity, provide residents with pieces of white bread, edible paint (granulated sugar and food coloring), and food-grade paintbrushes to paint colorful designs on the bread.

Men's: "Hawaiian Steak" (Spam)

Coordinate with Dining Services to organize a Hawaiian tasting for the men, in which they sample Hawaiian steak, a.k.a. Spam, like Spam fries.

Special Event: Palaka Aloha (Aloha Shirt)

Host a fun Hawaiian shirt contest, in which residents and staff members wear their best Hawaiian shirts. Invite your facility's administrators to vote on their favorite. Award a jar of macadamia nuts as a prize to the winner. (Please note that Hawaii's statehood is Sunday, August 21.)

Beach Week

(Week of August 28)

Crafts: Collecting Starfish

Recognize National Beach Day on August 30 by providing fun beach activities this week that get your residents recalling the fun summers that they had at the beach. Start the week off with a fun craft where residents can make their own ocean art using cornstarch, baking soda, and water. First, microwave the mixture until it comes together. Then follow the site's instructions on how to form different ocean-themed objects.

Reminiscing: Sunbathing Indoors

Reminisce with residents about whether they used to sunbathe at the beach. Ask residents what they used to protect their skin from the sun. During the discussion, pass out easy-to-make flip flop cookies (using Nutter Butter cookies, Twizzler candy, white icing, and flower sprinkles).

Physical: Walking Along the Boardwalk

Lead your residents on a walk around your facility to take in the sights and sounds of the flying birds outdoors as if you were on the boardwalk at a beach.

One-on-One: Making Prints in the Sand

Invite your resident to make a sand handprint keepsake to give to a grandchild. For the project, use sand, water, a shadow box, Plaster of Paris, seashells, and freezer bags.

Lower-Functioning: Stretching Salt-Water Taffy

Recruit residents to help you stretch taffy as you make quick and easy microwavable taffy, just like the salt-water taffy at the beach.

Bedside: Listening to Shell Wind Chimes

Encourage your resident to assist you with assembling shell wind chimes that can be placed outside the window of your resident's room. To make the chimes, simply glue twine to each seashell before hanging from a large stick or craft sticks (as shown on the website).

Outing: Taking a Trip to the Beach (or Local Pond)

Take residents on a fun drive past a local beach or pond, and pass out beach bingo cards (PDF) so that residents can mark off the items as they see them. (If you would rather make it into a competitive game, use a bingo card generator so that each resident will have a different card.)

Sensory Stimulation: Building a Sandman

Supply residents with sand dough to build a sandman on your back patio tables. Award a prize for the best sandman.

Men's: Assembling Beach Chairs

Persuade the men to make craft stick beach chairs using craft sticks and hot glue. Paint the finished beach chairs in bright, summer colors.

Special Event: Playing Beach Volleyball

Host a fun beach volleyball game among your residents in your Activity Room. For the game, set up your volleyball net, but instead of using balloons, use a large beach ball for residents to hit back and forth over the net. (Please note that National Beach Day is Tuesday, August 30.)