Drum Circle

Drum circle is a possibility thanks to plastic drumsticks from Amazon, gray bins, and cleanings in between uses. 

I use a lot of old rock hits and other well known songs like "Beat It", "All She Wants to Do Is Dance", "One Love", "We Will Rock You", and "Respect". I often suggest a pattern for the patients to imitate (fast, slow, switching hands, hitting the sides of the drums, making a pattern on the top of the drum, etc) but also encourage them to do whatever sounds good. Some can only use one hand, some clap or tap their feet. Some dance or sing. 

We also chat about the songs as they come up on shuffle. 

My last song is always "Jump In the Line" because they are warmed up and we can end on a high note. The song gives directions so we shake our sticks, hit them together, dance, and sing as a group until the final verse.


 

Feasts for Saints Peter and Paul

We had a feast of activities for Saints Peter and Paul. I did a special devotions and we changed our race game to fish. Bible trivia and gifts for the staff ended a lovely day.

Memorial Day

Always my favorite Holiday to work with the patients! Each of the patients and staff got a poppy sticker and we discussed what the day meant to us. We thanked veterans and shared people in our lives who served. We played patriotic songs and tried to guess the titles and singers. I shared information about the history of the songs and most of the patients enjoyed reminiscing. At 3PM we paused our word games for a moment of silence. Then we ended the day with warm towel massages as a final thank you to their generation.

Mod Podge

We used mod podge, construction paper, and bits from the Indianapolis Star newspaper to celebrate mod podge day. Since Covid was very prevalent in the news there was a theme for the art.

We also did a balloon dodge exercise and mod podge phrases game.

May Flowers

Simple origami is an activity I enjoy for the patients. We made tulips for Spring Break Day.

Step by step drawing is also a good brain/creativity for dementia patients. We made Lady Slippers for Minnesota's Day.

Covid Changes

Some changes in my building are that we have to take our temperatures and answer a questionaire when we enter the building.

During patient contact, we must wear masks and be even more diligent about cleansing our hands between people. We also try to sit the patients 6 feet apart and intervene before they touch each other.

Wearing the mask in a loud room full of an audience with hearing problems on top of their dementia has been a difficulty but we are going to get through this.

Monograms for Rebels

 A simple art project turned out well. Squiggles on a canvas, a traced letter for a first name, and color in each area created by the squiggles. As usual, the patients made this artwork their own and I love how they turned out.