Mother Ocean

 Art therapy produces wonderful, surprising, unexpected, joyous, messy results. Giving patients a theme and then adding a silhouette on top can be a simple way to bring continuity to a group of projects. I wish the mother and child had been enlarged for this, but I still enjoy the concept.

Photo Props

This month on the birthday party we celebrated "Take Your Best (Photo) Shot" so I made Photo Props for people to pose with.

I can't post the pictures we made, but I did print copies for a wall in the activity room and it has gone over very well. Sometimes I forget that people don't realize the fun things we do without being present, and photos can help them re-live the things they aren't able to visit for.

I think next month we have different props and made it a tradition. The best part of using big cardboard cut outs is that it covers people's midlines and hair- the two biggest reasons people don't like having their photos taken. Copies for families can help them feel like they are making memories with loved ones even when those loved ones have declined from what they once were.

The patients painted the props.

Tartan Day

To celebrate Tartan Day, we had staff wear any tartan they could find. The BINGO prize for the day was a sticker of a swatch of tartan. We listened to Celtic music, and talked about the idea of knowing which family someone was associated with just by seeing their clothes. At the end of the day, I wrote the letters T A R N S (Tartans without repeating letters) with categories along the side. The patients came up with answers for each category for each letter.

Watching the Grass Grow

Growing grass was a favorite at the Dementia unit I previously worked on, so I decided to try it again. The patients got the dirt ready, planted the seeds, and water our tiny garden daily. Now the grass is several inches high. I make a joke about needing a miniature lawn mower. The patients love touching the sprouts and marveling at the way it grows quickly. I ask them, "when is the last time you felt real grass?"

Cherry Blossom Tree Day

 Although I am no longer in Maryland, I still wanted to celebrate the Cherry Blossoms. I showed youTube videos of the event. We did soda bottle stamp painting. Finally, we tried to make as many words as possible out of the letters from Cherry Blossom Tree Day.

World Water Day

On World Water Day we chatted about the lack of water in some areas of the world. We played underwater BINGO (instead of numbers the cards had pictures of beautiful things found below the sea). This version created one of the most engaged groups I have had so far. Some were using the cards like a normal BINGO card, some just enjoyed searching the card for the picture I had described, and others just perused their card and reminisced about the lovely items. We also did a water taste test. I poured two types of infused water into cups and let them sample both to tell the difference.

Pi Day

I love when the theme of the day gives us a way to introduce ourselves and share something with the group. On pi day, we took a poll of everyone (staff included)'s favorite type of pie. Later we played a shopping prices game to guess the cost of pre-made pies and ingredients for hand-made baked goods.