This year we really worked hard on putting together a lot of patriotic activities for our program. Yesterday we had a group of folk singers come by and sing patriotic songs, and we wrote letters to soldiers last week as well.
We also have a few ladies who really enjoy making crafts, no matter how big or small. We’ve found that one of the crafting activities that seems to work well for a variety of independence levels is crunching up little squares of colored tissue paper and pasting them to an object or a drawing.
To get an activity like this ready all you really need are some sheets of colored tissue paper and scissors, or actually, I prefer using one of those long blades with a grid base (I forget what to call it) so you can cut up one inch squares quicker. We put these flat squares of tissue paper into small cups, like old margarine containers, and put them around the table for our members to choose from. They can then scrunch the paper into whatever shape they’d like and then dip it in some glue to paste it to their shape. Also, for those who have trouble with individually dipping each piece, you can spread glue onto the shape first and then scrunch the paper up and drop them on.
To take the activity one step further for your more independent crowd, ask them to help prepare the activity. They can help cut, sort, or even help scrunch some shapes up for those who cannot due to arthritis or paralysis. They can also give you input as to what colors to choose and can help supervise and assist less independent residents.
After our group made their patriotic stars, we hung them up on our bookshelf to decorate the room. They really enjoy being able to look up and see their contribution to the program, I think it adds to their self-esteem quite a bit. Today we sent them home with them as they left so they could enjoy it for the 4th of July holiday.
One lady in particular was very concerned about not forgetting her craft this afternoon. She asked us to take it down from the bookshelf so she could keep her eye on it. Memory is a fascinating thing, this lady remembers her short-term memory is poor, so she tries to compensate for it!
As you may imagine, once we pull one craft down, other members wanted to hold onto theirs as well, and before you knew it we only had three stars hanging and a bunch of them on the table! People began to be picked up and the lady who started the whole episode went to the restroom before she expected her son to arrive.
When she came back, her star was missing! She was so worried to not forget it and now we couldn’t find it! We feared someone took it home accidentally, but I was pretty certain that couldn’t be the case. I asked her to check her pockets but she said they were empty. She wore a big, baggy jacket, one that was probably three or four sizes to large for her short frame.
We looked around and tried to see if she thought if one of the stars hanging was hers, but she could tell it wasn’t; she knew her own handiwork. My heart ached for her, of all the things she would forget during the day, she couldn’t forget about not taking this craft home.
I asked her again to check her pocket, because I was sure it had to be somewhere on her, but they were empty. Luckily, something caught my eye on the bottom of her jacket and I asked her to hold still for a minute. I leaned over and saw a piece of gold string around a button on the bottom of her jacket. I pulled it, and the star appeared out from under her jacket, thankfully!
The mind is a mysterious thing, she knew she didn’t want to forget it, yet couldn’t remember she tied it to her coat.
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