150+ Crafts and Activities for Seniors

By Kim Dickson

I am still volunteering to this day, and the joy I see on their happy faces is all I need to keep going. I hope this book has helped you to help the seniors in your lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493188932

Kim Dickson

Kim discovered through years of volunteer work with senior citizens that there was very little information available on crafts, activities and entertainment for elderly confined to assisted living facilities. Therefore, after much research and through trial and error, Kim created and developed over 150 crafts and activities that she introduced to many seniors with wonderful results. Once Kim saw the positive effect this had on her seniors, she wanted to share this information with caregivers, activity directors or anyone looking to enrich the lives of their seniors. Kim continues to press on with her quest to improve the quality of life for our most precious citizens. Kim resides with her husband John, 4 pugs and 4 parrots in Spokane, Washington.

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Copyright © 2014 by Kim Dickson.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014905800

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4931-8894-9

                Softcover         978-1-4931-8895-6

                Ebook               978-1-4931-8893-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/26/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

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1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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608812

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Senior Citizens Are Society’s Hidden Gems

1.   A Cold Dose of Reality!

2.   Life Stories as Told by the Residents

3.   The Power of Touch and Laughter

4.   Caring Steps

5.   Memorable Quotes

6.   100+ Tried and True Crafts

7.   50+ Games and Activities They Really Enjoy

8.   Tips for Organizing Events on a Budget

9.   Christmas Party Success Story

Summary

Biography

Acknowledgments

I would like to dedicate this book to my dear friend Phyllis Fullington, whose inspiration and drive to survive has deeply influenced my life. She was the sweetest, funniest, most loving person I have ever met, and I’m honored to have known her and called her my friend. She could bring sunshine to the cloudiest day. She had battled cancer for over nine years and was an inspiration to everyone who met her. We shared a bucket list together for when she got well enough, which included a hot air balloon ride, a trip to Hawaii, and taking a jet boat on some fast river.

Unfortunately, her health never improved, so we did not get to do any of those things, but we made our own fun memories. This is a strong message to everyone—don’t wait to make or share memories; there may never come a chance to do so again!

Phyllis passed away on January 2, 2013, and she will live forever in my heart and mind.

Thank you, Philly!

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Preface

I have been a volunteer at assisted living facilities for over four years now and have seen the highs and lows of all stages of life within those walls. I felt compelled to share their stories and provide insight on how to make their lives better and more fulfilling.

As a volunteer craft/activity person, I have found it difficult to find one good source for crafts and activities that work; so after much research and trial and error, I have compiled a list of what has worked well for me. I wanted to make it easier for the readers to add some fun and excitement in their senior’s lives by providing a hands-on guide to which they can use as a reference. There are over 150 crafts and activities in this book to provide enjoyment for your seniors for years to come!

Having a good quality of life is important at any age but especially so as we get older, and life has a way of passing us by, leaving us empty and all alone. By incorporating fun and interesting things in senior’s lives, we will keep our loved ones happy and healthy during their retirement years.

My mission statement:

"I believe in improving the day-to-day existence of the elderly, particularly those confined to an assisted living or nursing home, by providing love, hope, compassion, companionship, and encouragement to enable them to live their lives to the fullest."

Senior Citizens Are Society’s Hidden Gems

I have always been fascinated and inspired by senior citizens and felt a deep longing for my own grandparents who died long before I was born. I lived vicariously through my friend’s elders listening to how things used to be back in the day. I was enthralled for hours with their tales of war and all the hardships they endured, but most fascinating of all was the way they skillfully addressed a problem and managed to find a way around most anything to get the job done. One of their favorite sayings that truly capture life back then is use it up, wear it out, and make do or do without. Where there is a will, there is a way; and believe me, these folks had it!

What I’ve observed is that most people are too busy with their own lives to recognize the amazing untapped resources that are all around them in their local senior assisted living homes. I know I was. What I feel is one of the biggest issues with our society today is the total lack of respect people have for one another, especially their elders. When was the last time you visited or called your elders to tell them that you loved them? I feel people need to come to terms with this lack of compassion and deal with it as individuals and as a family and ask yourself, is this how I want to be treated when I get older?

Our senior citizens have spent so much more time out there in the world than we have, and to coin a phrase, they have been there and done that! They were once like you and me, busy living their lives, but back then, they slowed down enough to get to know their neighbors and share their knowledge and dreams. I believe that if we only recognized and utilized these resources, we would all be far better off for it.

I’ve found that they have so much wisdom to share with us that it’s an incredible shame and waste for people not to take advantage of it. How could anyone who has made it to their golden years through this last century not have some pearls of wisdom to share?

I’ve personally observed that most senior citizens that reside in an assisted living or nursing home have very few family or friends to visit them which make their lives lonely and unfulfilled. What is even more heartbreaking are the ones that do have relatives who choose not to visit them, hoping that they will soon pass away and remove the perception of burden and guilt from their lives.

I strongly believe that our senior citizens should be revered and respected, not tossed aside like a pair of old worn-out shoes, and if you choose to include them in your daily lives, you will be much richer for it. I know I am. By understanding the lives they have led and the contributions they have made, you will be able to determine what is and what should be really important in your life.

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This is a compilation of real-life stories and experiences of senior citizens that I have witnessed living in an assisted living facility. Included are my observations, stories, tried and true crafts and activities, senior care, and general tips. This is not to say that all facilities are like the one represented here, not by a long shot, but my recommendation is that all assisted living centers and senior care homes need to be thoroughly researched before making a final decision for you or a loved one. The names have been changed to protect privacy, and any similarities are purely coincidental.

Chapter 1

A Cold Dose of Reality!

As I walk into an assisted living facility, I observe a pretty lobby, colorful pamphlets, and a cheery receptionist. Unfortunately, as I get to know this facility in greater detail, the initial observation was all a façade. What the public sees in the lobby is meant to create an illusion of tranquility, inviting you into a warm and loving environment. Yet I have found that in reality all is not as it seems.

In this one particular assisted living home, there is an extremely high attrition rate within the facility; staff turnover is a weekly, if not a daily event. The result of this frequent change is confusion among the residents, poor communication from the top down, poor care, poor response times to call buttons, missed medications, etc. Within the last four years alone, I have witnessed eight new administrators, nine new activity directors, seven cooks, four registered nurses (RNs), and too many to count caregivers, come and go. See a troubling problem here?

What I’ve observed in working directly with the senior citizens and staff is that the facility is predominantly run by teenagers, who are the least expensive to hire and by far the easiest to fire at a drop of the hat. This often leads to the facility being understaffed on any given day, and the ultimate victims are the senior citizens. The quality of in-house training is quite low, and there is rarely any experienced staff members available to assure new hires are performing their jobs correctly. The new hires that do hang on for more than a week have hardly any spare time to connect with the residents on a personal level—besides delivering meals or medications, which are both consistently late or sometimes completely forgotten.