Hello Halloween

We can't forget to discuss Halloween. Now that time has passed it shouldn't be too spooky.

The kitchen ordered too many pumpkins so had plenty to decorate by painting the outsides.

 Split feelings arose from candy corn. We used the pieces for BINGO and half the patients ate it before they could get 5-in-a-row. The others scarcely wanted to touch it. We did a candy corn guess, talked about the history of the sweet, and painting the iconic triangle on styrofoam.

On the day of the holiday, we learned the moves to the Monster Mash. Don't worry, I practiced at home before hand. We also did a second exercise of a web toss (cotton balls to tape on a cardboard back) to balance our sugar consumption.

Our dietary staff made fresh pumpkin rolls and devised a non-alcoholic bloody mary with carrots, cucumbers, and bacon garnishes.

Nacho Typical Day

History of Nachos: Basically, if the inventor of Nachos had not been short, we would probably refer to them as Altos.

Our patients discussed their preferences  with nachos, I made a few cheese jokes, and our social for the day was a nacho party. At least one patient had a new experience.

Cookie Monster's Birthday

Who wouldn't wear blue and make a sign from your baby on cookie monster's birthday?

We also discussed cookie preferences, read cook books to try to guess necessary ingredients, and had a cookie taste test to guess the flavors the dietary staff made fresh for the patients on this birthday celebration.

Pretzel Sticks

Pretzel stick log cabin

What makes a pretzel a pretzel? This is something I find myself wondering due to some pretzels being hard, some soft, some in a certain shape and others in different shapes. Some have salt and others do not.

On pretzel day our patients learned some history, or should I say "theories" on the origins of pretzels, made log cabins out of the snack, and taste tested different brands. We discussed pretzel preferences and found out a few more things we have in common.

World Arthritis Day

On World Arthritis Day we talked about the ways arthritis can effect someone's life, people we know suffering from it, made art using fine motor skills and our hand-prints, then ended the day with hand massages and warm towels over our hands.

Smiley Face Day

A day to smile. Do we take the smiley face for granted? What things can a smile bring to others? These are important questions we asked ourselves on smiley face day before painting a background for emojis.

World Travel

If the world had flag, what would it be? Our patients took turns putting stickers on a large map of the world so we could see all the places we've been as a group. We watched videos of favorite places, had world trivia, and finished the day with making "flags" for the world.