How to Create a Fun Spring Bazaar
for Your Assisted Living Residents

Do you have residents who would love to go shopping, but are unable to leave your senior facility? If so, then bring the shopping to them by hosting a fun annual spring bazaar. Here are five things you need to do to provide a fun bazaar for your residents this spring:

1. Invite Vendors. Invite vendors to sell a variety of spring items at your spring bazaar, like hats, scarves, earrings, wallets, and other accessories. In addition, contact a few local dress shops who would be interested in showcasing their inexpensive outfits and shoes for your residents.

2. Enlist Your Crafts Club. Encourage your facility’s Crafts Club to make crafts that they can sell at the Spring Bazaar. Here are a few ideas:

• Apartment Accessories (fabric-covered flowerpots, no-sew pillows, and glass jar vases)

• Writing Accessories (vegetable-stamped stationary, Washi tape bookmarks, and cereal box notepads)

• Wall and Window Accessories (flower door wreaths, fabric-covered wall art, and colorful suncatchers)

• Personal Accessories (essential oil perfume, felt keychains, and tassel necklaces)

• Kitchen Accessories (glass pebble refrigerator magnets, marbled mugs, and painted tea towels)

• Fashion Accessories (nail polish-painted sunglasses, embroidered sunglass bags, and beaded sunglass chains)

3. Contact Family Members. Create flyers asking family members to stop by to purchase spring items for their loved ones, or to create a “credit” amount for their loved ones to make purchases on their own up to a certain dollar amount.

4. Set Up a Store. Turn your Activity Room into a store for residents, staff members, and family members to go shopping. Set up several tables for your vendors and your Crafts Club to display their items for sale, and set up several racks for vendors to hang their spring clothes.

5. Organize a Fashion Show Luncheon. Help residents see the accessories and items on sale by hosting a fashion show luncheon in your Dining Room. Before the event, use spring decorations to makeover your Dining Room. In addition, place vendor brochures on each of the tables if your vendors have brochures of their merchandise. For the event, have staff members and volunteers wear some of the garments and accessories made available by the vendors, and parade through your Dining Room, showing off the merchandise. As the fashion show emcee, be sure to encourage the models to stop by each of the tables so that residents can get a closer look as you describe the garments. Finally, after the fashion show is over, encourage residents to stop by the store on their way back to their rooms.